Diet

• Omnivorous, feeding on honeydew from aphids, scale insects, and treehoppers, as well as nectar, plant sap, fruits, fungi, dead insects, and other arthropods.

• Workers actively hunt or scavenge insects to provide protein for developing larvae.

• Frequently visit flowers and extrafloral nectaries for sugary foods.

Range

• Native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and much of northern and central South America, extending south to Brazil.

• Widespread throughout Mexico, including the Pacific coast of Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.

• Occurs primarily in tropical and subtropical lowland habitats.

Habitat

• Inhabits tropical dry forests, tropical rainforests, mangrove forests, secondary forests, woodland edges, plantations, gardens, and urban areas.

• Nests in dead trees, rotting logs, hollow branches, beneath bark, wooden fence posts, and occasionally in buildings.

• Forages both on the ground and in the forest canopy, often travelling long distances along well-defined trails.

Size

• Worker length: 5–12 mm (0.2–0.5 in)

• Major worker: Up to 14 mm (0.55 in)

• Queen length: 15–18 mm (0.6–0.7 in)

• Colonies typically contain several thousand workers.