Birds of North and Middle America, part V/Genus 10. Myrmopagis Ridgway

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Genus MYRMOPAGIS Ridgway.

Myrmopagis[1] Ridgway, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., xxii, Apr. 17, 1909, 69. (Type, Myrmothera axillaris Vieillot.)
(?) Myrmophila[2] Cabanis and Heine, Mus. Hein., ii, July, 1859, 12. (Type, Formicivora brevicauda Swainson.)
​Small Formicariidæ resembling Myrmotherula but differing in relatively much longer tail (much more than half to more than two-thirds as long as wing), much stouter and relatively shorter and less depressed bill, the adult males neither streaked nor plain gray or slaty.

Bill decidedly shorter than head, rather stout, not depressed basally, its width at frontal antiæ about equal to or very little greater than its depth at same point and equal to less to slightly more than half the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla; culmen distinctly and rather sharply ridged, straight or nearly so for most of its length, rather strongly and abruptly decurved terminally, the tip of maxilla minutely but distinctly uncinate; tomium nearly straight, that of maxilla distinctly, that of mandible slightly notched subterminally; gonys faintly convex (more decidedly so basally). Nostril exposed, posteriorly nearly (sometimes quite) in contact with feathering of latero-frontal antiæ, roundish or broadly oval, margined for basal half by the membraneous cover of nasal fossæ (this sometimes extending along upper margin as a narrow "operculum"); and with a conspicuous internal tubercle. Rictal bristles present but minute (practically obsolete); feathers of chin, malar antiæ, and lores with slender terminal setæ. Wing moderate, with longest primaries distinctly longer than secondaries; sixth and seventh, or fifth, sixth, and seventh, primaries longest, the tenth (outermost) slightly more than one-half to nearly two-thirds as long as the longest, the ninth about as long as secondaries or a little shorter. Tail much more than half to more than two-thirds as long as wing, much rounded, the rectrices (12) moderately broad to rather narrow, rounded terminally. Tarsus decidedly longer than exposed culmen, less than one-third as long as wing (except in M. ornata), the acrotarsium distinctly scutellate, the planta tarsi usually fused (at least in part) or with the scutella somewhat indefinite as to form and arrangement (with a general tendency toward two longitudinal series); middle toe, with claw, decidedly shorter than tarsus; outer toe, without claw, reaching to beyond middle of subterminal phalanx of middle toe, the inner toe slightly shorter; hallux about as long as inner toe but much stouter; basal phalanx of middle toe wholly united to outer toe, for about half its length to inner toe; claws moderate in size and curvature, that of the hallux decidedly shorter than the digit. Plumage soft, lax, and blended, that of rump and flanks much elongated and fluffy; feathers of pileum not elongated.

Coloration.[3] — Adult males plain gray or slate color above, the wings black, spotted with white, the tail black with white tip to ​lateral rectrices, the under parts black with flanks white or light gray; or, plain brown or olive above (sometimes with lower back and rump rufescent), the wing-coverts spotted with white, under parts paler brownish, the throat black spotted or streaked with white. Sexes very differently colored, adult females being brown or olive above, paler brownish, buffy, or whitish beneath.[4]

Range. — Honduras to Cayenne and Amazon Valley. (Several species.)[5]

KEY TO THE SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OF MYRMOPAGIS.

a. General color black, or black and slate color, and white (no brown).

b. Flanks white; under wing-coverts immaculate white.
c. Upper parts black or slate-black. (Southern Honduras to Venezuela and western Ecuadór.)
Myrmopagis melæna, adult male (p. 68).
cc. Upper parts slate-gray. (Guiana, Trinidád, and Amazon Valley.)
Myrmopagis axillaris, adult male (extralimital).[6]
bb. Flanks slate color, like back, etc.; under wing-coverts partly black.
c. Tail shorter (about 28 mm.); lesser and middle wing-coverts partly slate color, with anterior portion of the area much more extensively white. (Bolivia to eastern Ecuadór.)
Myrmopagis menetriesii, adult male (extralimital).[7]
cc. Tail longer (33.5-38 mm.); lesser and middle wing-coverts black tipped with white, with anterior portion of the area much less extensively white. (Guatemala to Colombia and Venezuela.)
Myrmopagis schisticolor, adult male (p. 70).

aa. General color olive-brownish (no black except, sometimes, on throat).

b. Throat black and white. (Southern Honduras to western Ecuadór.)
Myrmopagis fulviventris, adult male (p. 73).
bb. Throat plain buff or buffy whitish.
c. Middle and greater wing-coverts distinctly tipped with ochraceous-buff.
Myrmopagis fulviventris, adult female (p. 74).
​
cc. Middle and greater wing-coverts not distinctly, if at all, tipped with buffy.
d. Pileum and hindneck dull slate-grayish; back, etc., more grayish olive; under parts paler buffy, the throat and flanks nearly white.
Myrmopagis melæna, adult female, (p. 68).
dd. Pileum and hindneck brown; back, etc., more brownish olive; under parts deeper (more ochraceous) buffy, the throat ochraceous-buff, the flanks buffy olive.
Myrmopagis schisticolor, adult female (p. 71).

MYRMOPAGIS MELÆNA (Sclater).

BLACK ANTWREN.

Adult male. — Above plain black or slate-black, the wing-coverts spotted or dotted with white (a roundish or subtriangular spot at tip of each feather), outer web of exterior row of scapulars broadly edged with white, and a large white patch covering inner-anterior portion of lesser wing-covert area;[8] lateral rectrices (sometimes all but middle pair) tipped with white; under wing-coverts, broad edgings to inner web of remiges, and an extensive patch of soft elongated feathers covering sides and flanks, white; rest of under parts uniform black, or slate-black; bill black, the mandible sometimes more plumbeous; iris brown; legs and feet horn color (bluish gray or grayish blue in life); length (skins), 78-99 (91); wing, 50-56 (52.4); tail, 29.5-37 (32.4); culmen, 13-14.5 (13.6); tarsus, 15-17 (15.7); middle toe, 8.5-10 (9).[9]

Immature male. — Similar to the adult male, but the black of upper parts replaced by blackish slate, that of the under parts by slate color, clouded, more or less extensively, with black, the chin and upper throat sometimes mostly pale gray or grayish white; younger individuals with terminal spots of greater wing-coverts buffy instead of white.

Adult female. — Pileum and hindneck dark mouse gray or dull slate color, passing into olive on back and scapulars, this into brownish olive or olive-brown on rump and upper tail-coverts; tail dusky brown, the rectrices edged with russet-brown or sepia; general color of wings deep olive or olive-brown, the greater wing-coverts and secondaries more russet-brown on edges, the primaries edged with lighter and more buffy olive; middle and greater wing-coverts indistinctly tipped with russet-brown; auricular, suborbital, and malar regions, chin, and throat dull buffy whitish, the first suffused with grayish and with narrow shaft-streaks of whitish; rest of under parts, including under wing-coverts and broad edgings to inner webs of remiges, buff (more or less deep) ; maxilla blackish brown with paler tomia, mandible dull yellowish (bluish gray or grayish blue in life); iris brown; legs and feet horn color (bluish gray or grayish blue in ​life); length (skins), 89-96 (90); wing, 47-54 (50.6); tail, 29-34 (31.5); culmen, 12.5-14 (13.3); tarsus, 15-16 (15.3); middle toe, 8.5-9 (8.9).[10]

Southern Honduras (Rio Segóvia), Costa Rica (Angostura; Naranjo de Cartago; Rio Reventazón; Jiménez; Pacuare; Orosí; Sipúrio; La Balsa; San José; Rio Sícsola; El Hogár; Guápiles; La Junta; Carrillo; Las Trojas; Rio Frio; La Vijágua), and Panamá (Panamá; Lion Hill; Chepo), through Colombia (Rio Truando; Turbo; Nechi, Antioquía; Bogotá) and Ecuadór (Sarayacu; Foreste del Rio Peripa; Santo Domingo) to Peru (Rio Huallaga; Lower Ucayali; Xeberos; Chyavetas; Chamicuros; Pebas; Moyabamba) and Venezuela (Maipures; Perico; Bichaco; Munduapo).

Formicivora axillaris (not Myrmothera axillaris Vieillot) Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1855, 147 (Bogotá).
Myrmotherula axillaris Carriker, Ann. Carnegie Mus., v, 1908, 8 (Rio Sícsola, Talamanca, Costa Rica; crit.).
Formicivora melæna Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1857, 130 (Bogotá, Colombia; coll. P. L. Sclater). — Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., viii, 1863, 484 (Lion Hill, Panamá).
Myrmotherula melæna Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1858, 237 (monogr.; Bogotá); Cat. Am. B. 1862, 180 (do.). — Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1864, 356 (Lion Hill; crit.); 1866, 186 (Rio Ucayali, e. Peru); 1867, 750 (Rio Huallaga, e. Peru); 1873, 274 (lower Ucayali, Xeberos, Chyavetas, Chamicuros, e. Peru); 1879, 525 (Nechi, Antioquía, Colombia). — Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., ix, 1868, 107 (Angostura and Pacuare, Costa Rica). — Frantzius, Journ. für Orn., 1869, 305 (Costa Rica). — Pelzeln, Orn. Bras., ii, Abth., 1869, 82. — Salvin, Ibis, 1874, 311 (Rio Truando, Colombia; Panamá; Costa Rica; synonymy). — Boucard, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1878, 61 (Costa Rica). — Taczanowski, Orn. du Pérou, ii, 1884, 48. — Zeledón, Anal. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, 115 (Pacuare, Naranjo de Cartago, and Las Trojas, Costa Rica). — Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, 1890, 239 (Angostura, Costa Rica; Panamá and Chepo, Isthmus Panamá; Antioquía and Bogotá, Colombia; Sarayacu, e. Ecuadór; Xeberos, Yquitos, Pebas, and Chamicuros, e. Peru). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., Aves, ii, 1892, 211. — Richmond, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvi, 1893, 501 (Rio ​Frio, Costa Rica). — Salvadori and Festa, Boll. Mus. Zool., etc., xv, no. 362, 1899, 30 (Foreste del Rio Peripa, w. Ecuadór). — Goodfellow, Ibis, 1902, 64 (Santo Domingo, w. Ecuadór). — Berlepsch and Hartert, Novit. Zool., ix, 1902, 74 (Maipures, etc., Venezuela; crit.; descr. nest and eggs). — Carriker, Ann. Carnegie Mus., vi, 1910, 608 (Caribbean lowlands up to 1,500 ft., Costa Rica; crit.; habits).
[Myrmotherula] melæna Pelzeln, Orn. Bras., iv, Abth., 1870, 418. — Sclater and Salvin, Nom. Av. Neotr., 1873, 72. — Sharpe, Hand-list, iii, 1901, 22.
M[yrmophila] melæna Cabanis and Heine, Mus. Hein., ii, July, 1859, 13.
Myrmotherula albigula Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., viii, 1867, 131 (Panamá Railway; coll. G. N. Lawrence; = ?; see Salvin, Ibis, 1874, 317); ix, 1868, 108 (Angostura, Costa Rica). — Frantzius, Journ. für Orn., 1869, 305 (Costa Rica).

MYRMOPAGIS SCHISTICOLOR (Lawrence).

SLATY ANTWREN.

Similar to M. menetriesii D'Orbigny (?)[11] but tail much longer (both absolutely and relatively); adult male with wing-coverts much darker, the lesser and middle coverts being wholly black (except for the white terminal spots), instead of slate color with black subterminal area, and inner-anterior portion of lesser wing-covert area much less extensively white.

Adult male. — Above mainly uniform slate color; wing-coverts, which are black, each tipped with a transversely subtriangular or subrounded spot of white; primary coverts and alula also black, the former with a small white mark at tip of outer web, the latter terminally margined with white; a white patch (mostly concealed) at junction of wing and body; chin, throat, and chest (sometimes breast also, at least medially) uniform black; malar region black, barred with slate-gray; sides of head and neck, together with lateral and posterior under parts, uniform slate color, except under tail-coverts, which are margined terminally with white and barred subterminally with black; under wing-coverts mixed white and blackish; inner webs of remiges broadly edged with brownish white; bill black; iris brown; legs and feet grayish, horn color, or dusky (bluish gray or grayish blue in life); length (skins), 90-105 (96.5); wing, 54-61 (56.8); tail, 33-38 (36); culmen, 12.5-14.5 (13.3); tarsus, 15.5-17 (16.3); middle toe, 9.5-10 (9.7).[12]

​Adult female. — Pileum and hindneck plain buffy olive-brown or raw umber; the back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts lighter and less brownish olive; tail deep brown (sepia), the edges of the rectrices brighter, more russet brown; general color of wings olive, the tips of wing-coverts (broadly but indistinctly) more cinnamon- brownish; sides of head, chin, and throat bully, the former more or less suffused with olive or olive-brown; rest of under parts tawny- buff or clay color, deeper and browner, or tinged with olivaceous, on sides and flanks; under wing-coverts deep buff or tawny-buff; inner webs of remiges broadly edged with paler buff; maxilla horn brown or dusky with paler tomium, mandible pale dull yellowish (grayish blue to flesh color in life); legs and feet light horn color (bluish gray or grayish blue in life); length (skins), 88-104 (96); wing, 51-56.5 (54.4); tail, 31-37.5 (34.6); culmen, 12-14 (13.1); tarsus, 15.5-17 (16.2); middle toe, 9-10 (9.7).[13]

Immature male. — Precisely like the adult female in coloration. (Older specimens show more or less of black on the throat, the lateral portion of which, together with more or less of sides of head, are slate-gray.)

Young male (first plumage). — Similar to the adult female but back tinged with dark purplish brown, and under parts of body clouded with dark purplish brown (seal brown or dark chocolate), the chest nearly uniformly of this color.

Young (nestling). — Above uniform vandyke brown, below uniform russet.

Guatemala (Choctúm and Samayoa, Vera Paz), Nicaragua (Matagalpa), Costa Rica (Turrialba; Barranca; Dota; Naranjo de Cartago; Grécia; Guayabo; Carrillo; Pozo del Pitál; Pozo Azúl de Pirrís; Boruca; Lagarto; Térraba; El Generál; La Vijágua; Tenório), Panamá, (Santiago, Santa Fé, Chitra, and Calovévora, Verágua; Boquete, Divala, and Volcan de Chiriquí, Chiriquí) and through ​Colombia (Los Tambos; Rio Conquita; Valparaiso; Bogotá) to Venezuela (Puerto Cabello; San Esteban).

Myrmotherula menetriesi (not Myrmothera menetriesii D'Orbigny) Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1867, 144 (Santiago de Verágua, Panamá; crit.); 1869, 252 (San Esteban, Venezuela); 1870, 195 (Volcan de Chiriquí, Chitra, Calovévora, and Bugaba, Panamá; crit.); Ibis, 1874, 310 (Verágua and Chiriquí, Panamá; Costa Rica; Vera Paz, Guatemala; synonymy). — Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1869, 252 (Venezuela). — Boucard, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1878, 61 (Naranjo de Cartago, Costa Rica). — Zeledón, Anal. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, i, 1887, 115 (Barranca and Pozo Azúl de Pirrís, Costa Rica). — Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, 1890, 240, part (Choctúm and Samayoa, Vera Paz, Guatemala; Dota Mts., Costa Rica; Calovevora, Santa Fé de Verágua, Volcan de Chiriquí, and Bugaba, Panamá; Bogotá; Puerto Cabello and San Esteban, Venezuela). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., Aves, ii, 1892, 212, part (Matagalpa, Nicaragua; Grécia, etc., Costa Rica, and other Central American localities; Colombia; Venezuela). — Berlepsch, Zeitschr. Orn., 1887, 185 (Bogotá, Colombia). — Cherrie, Anal. Inst. Fis.-Geog. Costa Rica, vi, 1893, 19 (Pozo del Pitál, Costa Rica). — Bangs, Auk, xxiv, 1907, 296 (Boruca and Pozo del Rio Grande, b. w. Costa Rica).
[Myrmotherula] menetriesi Sclater and Salvin, Nom. Av. Neotr., 1873, 72, part. — Sharpe, Hand-list, iii, 1901, 22, part (Guatemala to Panamá; Colombia; Venezuela).
Myrmotherula menetriesii Bangs, Proc. New Engl. Zool. Club, iii, 1902, 41 (Boquete and Volcan de Chiriquí, 3,000-7,800 ft.).
Myrmotherula menetriesi Cherrie, Expl. Zool. Merid. Costa Rica, 1893, 41 (Lagarto, Boruca, and Térraba, s. w. Costa Rica).
Formicivora schisticolor Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., viii, 1867, 172 (Turrialba, Costa Rica; coll. U. S. Nat. Mus.); ix, 1868, 108 (Turrialba and Barranca, Costa Rica). — Frantzius, Journ. für Orn., 1869, 305 (Costa Rica).
Myrmotherula schisticolor Hellmayr, Verh. k. k. Zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, Jan., 1903, 211 (Guatemala to n. w. Venezuela and s. e. Peru). — Menegaux and Hellmayr, Bull. Soc. Philom., 9 sér., viii, 1906, 50 (crit.).
Myrmotherula menetriesi schisticolor Carriker, Ann. Carnegie Mus., vi, 1910, 609 (Costa Rica; crit.; habits).
Myrmotherula modesta Lawrence, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., ix, 1870 (pub. March, 1869), 108 (Grécia, Costa Rica; coll. U. S. Nat. Mus.; = female). — Frantzius, Journ. für Orn., 1869, 305 (Costa Rica).
Myrmotherula nigrorufa Boucard, Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, n. s., xxv, 1878, 38 (Guatemala; coll. Mus. Paris; = young male; see Salvin, Ibis, 1879, 215 and Menegaux and Hellmayr, Bull. Soc. Philom., 1906, 50).

ecuadorian and peruvian references.[14]

Formicivora menetriesi (not Myrmothera menetriesii D'Orbigny?) Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1858, 67 (e. Ecuador). ​
Myrmotherula menetriesi Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1858, 237, part(monogr.); 1860, 67 (Pallatanga, w. Ecuadór), 89 (Nanegal, e. Ecuadór; crit.); Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 180 (Nanegál and Rio Napo, e. Ecuadór; Pallatanga, w. Ecuador); Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, 1890, 240, part (Pallatanga and Nanegal). — Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1874, 530 (Amable Maria and Paltaypampa, centr. Peru); 1882,30 (Huambo, n. e. Peru); Orn. du Pérou, ii, 1884, 45. — Berlepsch and Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1883, 564 (Chimbo, w. Ecuadór; crit.); 1884, 302 (Sarupata, Ecuadór). — Taczanowski and Berlepsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1885, 101 (Machay and Mapoto, Ecuadór; crit.). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr. -Am., Aves, ii, 1892, 211, part (Ecuadór; Peru). — Salvadori and Festa, Boll. Mus. Zool., etc., Torino, xv, no. 302, 1899, 30 (Foreste del Rio Peripa, w. Ecuadór; crit.). — Goodfellow, Ibis, 1902, 65 (Gualea, w. Ecuadór).
[Myrmotherula] menetriesi Sclater and Salvin, Nom. Av. Neotr., 1873, 72, part. — Sharpe, Hand-list, iii, 1901, 22, part (Ecuadór; Peru). — Berlepsch and Stolzman, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lend., 1902, 58 (Amable Maria, centr. Peru).
Myrmotherula menetriesi? Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1860, 67 (Pallatanga, e. Ecuadór).
Myrmotherula menetriesii Taczanowski and Berlepsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1885, 68 (Chimbo, Mapoto, and Machay, w. Ecuadór).

MYRMOPAGIS FULVIVENTRIS (Lawrence).

LAWRENCE'S ANTWREN.

Adult male. — Above plain olive (varying from grayish to brownish olive), becoming slightly grayer on pileum (where feathers are very indistinctly margined or flecked with dusky) and more brownish posteriorly; upper tail-coverts and tail much browner (sepia brown to prouts brown); more anterior lesser wing-coverts plain olive, the more posterior ones partly or wholly black, each with a terminal spot of buff; middle and greater coverts black with a terminal guttate or subtriangular spot of buff; remiges brownish olive to olive-brown (nearly prouts brown); auricular, suborbital, and malar regions dull grayish white, indistinctly streaked or flecked with dusky grayish; chin white; throat black, each feather tipped with a large guttate spot of white; rest of under parts light buffy olive or olive-buffy, slightly clearer and more buffy on abdomen, grayer on chest, and more olivaceous on sides and flanks; under wing-coverts and broad edgings to inner webs of remiges pale brownish buffy; mandible dark horn color with paler tomium, mandible dull whitish (pale grayish blue or bluish gray in life); iris brown, reddish brown, or straw color;[15] legs and feet light horn color (bluish gray or grayish blue in life) ; length (skins), 86-104 (96); wing, 48.5-53.5 (50.8); tail, 30-37 (32.7); cuhnen, 14-15.5 (14.8); tarsus, 15.5-17 (16.1); middle toe, 10.5- 11.5 (11).[16] ​Adult female. — Similar to the adult male but whole throat plain buffy, and general color of wing-coverts dusky olive instead of blackish; length (skins), 86-107 (99); wing, 48-52.5 (50.5); tail, 31.5-36 (34.2); culmen, 14-15.5 (14.6); tarsus, 16-17 (16.6); middle toe, 10.5-11.5 (11).[17]

Southern Honduras (Rio Segóvia) through Nicaragua (Rio Escondido; San Emilis, Lake Nicaragua), Costa Rica (Angostura; San José; San Carlos; Jiménez; Rio Reventazón; Rio Matina; Pacuare; Siquirres; Sipúrio; Cuábre; Guápiles; Carrillo; El Hogár; Guácimo; La Vijagpa; La Cristina), Panamá (Lion Hill) and Colombia (Remédios, Antioquía; Naranjo, Bucaramanga; Rio Truando) to western Ecuadór (Esmeraldas; Foreste del Rio Peripa).[18]

Myrmotherula gularis (not Thamnophilus gularis Spix) Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1860, 294, part (Panamá).
Myrmotherula ornata (not Formicivora ornata Sclater) Cassin, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1860, 191, part (Rio Truando, Colombia).
Myrmotherula, sp. no. 216, Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., vii, 1862, 325 (Lion Hill, Panamá).
Myrmetherula fulviventris Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vii, Feb., 1862, 468 (Lion Hill, Panamá; coll. G. N. Lawrence).
Myrmotherula fulviventris Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1864, 356 (Lion Hill; crit.); 1879, 525 (Remédios, Antioquía, Colombia). — Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., ix, 1868, 108 (Angostura, Costa Rica). — Frantzius, Journ. für Orn., 1869, 305 (Costa Rica). — Wyatt, Ibis, 1871, 331 (Naranjo, Colombia). — Salvin, Ibis, 1874, 311 (Rio Truando, Colombia; crit.). — Berlepsch, Journ. für Orn. 1884, 318 (Naranjo, Bucaramanga, Columbia). — Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., x, 1887, 590 (Rio Segóvia, Honduras). — Zeledón Anal. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, 115 (Pacuare and Jiménez, Costa Rica). — Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, 1890, 234 (Angostura, Costa Rica; Verágua; Panamá; Bogotá; Remédios, Antioquía; Esmeraldas, Ecuadór). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., Aves, ii, 1892, 210. — Richmond, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvi, 1893, 501 (Rio Escondido, Nicaragua). — (?) Salvadori and Festa, Boll. Mus. Zool., etc., Torino, xv, 1899, no. 362, 29 (Foreste del Rio Peripa, w. Ecuadór; crit.). — Carriker, Ann. Carnegie Mus., vi, 1910, 607 (Caribbean lowlands up to 1,500 ft., Costa Rica; habits; descr. nest and eggs).
[Myrmotherula] fulviventris Sclater and Salvin, Nom. Av. Neotr., 1873, 71. — Sharpe, Hand-list, iii, 1901, 21, part.
​

Genus MICRORHOPIAS Sclater.

Microrhopias Sclater, Cat. Am. Birds., 1862, 182. (Type, Thamnophilus quixensis Cornalia.)

Small to very small Formicariidæ (length about 105-135 mm.) with long, graduated tail of 12 round-tipped rectrices (nearly as long as to longer than wing), tarsus much less than half as long as wing, nostril broadly oval (much broader than the narrow, sometimes nearly obsolete, operculum), the adult males with at least the chin, throat, chest, and median portion of breast black, and wing-coverts tipped with white.

Bill shorter than head, moderately stout, not compressed, its width at frontal antiæ little if any greater than its depth at same point and equal to about half the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla; culmen distinctly but not sharply ridged, nearly straight for basal half (more or less) more and more decurved terminally, the tip of maxilla slightly though distinctly uncinate; tomia straight or nearly so, distinctly notched subterminally, the notch near tip of mandibular tomium less distinct; gonys gently convex, less so terminally. Nostril exposed, longitudinally oval, nearly in contact with feathering of latero-frontal antiæ, the superior operculum very narrow or practically obsolete. Rictal bristles well developed in M. boucardi and M. consobrina,[19] very minute (practically obsolete) in M. intermedia, M. grisea, M. rufatra, and allies; feathers of chin and loral region with slender terminal setæ. Wing moderate, with longest primaries extending, more or less decidedly, beyond secondaries; fifth and sixth, sixth and seventh, or fifth, sixth and seventh, primaries longest, the tenth (outermost) one-half to three-fifths as long as the longest, the ninth shorter than secondaries. Tail nearly as long as to longer than wing, graduated (graduation equal to length of tarsus or more), the rectrices (12) rather broad, rounded terminally. Tarsus longer than whole culmen, one-third (M. boucardi, M. consobrinus) to two-fifths as long as wing (M. grisea, M. intermedia, M. rufatra), distinctly scutellate, the plantar scutella in two longitudinal series but sometimes partly fused or obsolete; middle toe, with claw, much shorter than tarsus; outer toe, without claw, reaching to slightly beyond middle of subterminal phalanx of middle toe, the inner toe slightly shorter; hallux about as long as inner toe but much stouter; basal phalanx of middle toe wholly united to outer toe, for about half its length to inner toe; claws moderate in size and curvature, that of the hallux decidedly shorter than its digit. Plumage full, lax, and blended, that of the rump and flanks elongated and more fluffy; feathers of pileum not elongated.

  1. ↑ ?, an ant; ?; a trap.
  2. ↑ "Von ? (Ameise) und ? (lieben)." (Cabanis and Heine.)
  3. ↑ Not having been able to examine much the greater number of the species referred by Dr. Sclater to Myrmolherula (sec note on page 62) I am not able to define the full range of variation as to coloration in this group.
  4. ↑ Species examined are: Myrmopagis gutturalis (Sclater and Salvin), M. fulviventris (Lawrence), Myrmopagis ornata (Sclater), M. menetriesii (D'Orbigny), M. Schisticolor (Lawrence), M. axillaris (Vieillot), and M. melsena (Sclater).
  5. ↑ The range of the group and number of species composing it are matters of uncertainty owing to poor representation of the latter in the material examined.
  6. ↑ Myrmothera axillaris Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat., xii, 1817, 113 (Guiana). — Formicivora axillaris Cabanis, in Wiegm. Archiv für Naturg., 1847, pt. 1, 226. — M[yrmophila] axillaris Cabanis and Heine, Mus. Hein., ii, July, 1859, 13. — Myrmotherula axillaris Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1858, 236, part; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., XV, 1890, 238. — Myrmotherula axillaris axillaris Hellmayr, Novit. Zool., xiv, 1907, 22 (Itaituba, Brazil; crit.), 32 (Obidos, Brazil), 69 (Teffe, Brazil; crit.), 383 (Humaytha and Borba, Rio Madeira, Brazil; crit.). — M[yiotliera fuliginosa Lichtenstein, Verz. Doubl., 1823, 45, part (Cayenne; Brazil).
  7. ↑ Myrmothera menetriesii D'Orbigny, Voy. Am. Mérid., Ois., 1839, 184 (Cochabamba, Bolivia) .— Fonnicivora menetriesi Cabanis, in Wiegm. Archiv für Naturg., 1847, pt. i, 226; Menegaux and Hellmayr, Bull. Soc. Philom., 1906, 51 (crit.; type from Yuracares, Belinda, in Paris Mus.). — Myrmotherula menetriesi Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1858, 237; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, 1890, 240, part. — M[yrmophila] menetriesi Cabanis and Heine, Mus. Hein., ii, July, 1859, 13, footnote. — Myrmotherula boliviana Berlepsch, Journ. für Orn., Jan., 1901, 96 (San Mateo, n. Bolivia; coll. Count von Berlepsch). (See footnote on p. 70 of present work.)
  8. ↑ Usually there are also narrow and indistinct whitiah edgings to some of the remiges.
  9. ↑ Fifteen specimens.
  10. ↑ Fifteen specimens.
    Locality. Wing. Tail. Culmen. Tarsus. Middle
    toe.
    males.
    Ten adult males from Costa Rica 51.6 31.5 13.4 15.3 9
    One adult male from Panamá 52.5 31 14 15.5 8.5
    Two adult males from n. w. Colombia (Rio Truando) 53 33.5 13.5 16 9
    Two adult males from central Colombia (Bogotá) 56 36 14.2 16 9.2
    One adult male from Peru 53 33.5 14 16.5 9.5
    females.
    One adult female from southern Honduras (Rio Segovia) 49.5 32 13.3 15.3 8.5
    Ten adult females from Costa Rica 50 31 13.2 15.2 8.9
    Two adult females from Panamá 50.5 32.2 13 16 9
    Two adult females from n. w. Colombia (Turbo) 53.7 32.7 13.5 15 8.7
  11. ↑ Never having seen a specimen from Bolivia (the type locality of Myrmothera menetriesii) comparison of Colombian and Central American specimens has been made with one from Napo, eastern Ecuadór, which may or may not represent the true M. menetriesii. The specimen in question, while having the wing as long as the shortest-winged example of M. schisticolor (54 mm.) has the tail barely 28 mm., the shortest-tailed adult male of M. schisticolor having the tail 33.5 mm., while others range up to 38 mm.
  12. ↑ Twenty-two specimens from Costa Rica, Panamá, and Colombia.
  13. ↑ Fifteen specimens, from Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama.
    Locality. Wing. Tail. Culmen. Tarsus. Middle
    toe.
    males.
    Ten adult males from Costa Rica 56.8 36.2 13.3 16.2 9.8
    Ten adult males from Panamá 56.1 36.2 13.2 16.3 9.6
    Two adult males from Colombia 60 34 14 16 9.7
    One adult male (of M. meneiriesii?) from e. Ecuadór 54 28 12.5 16.5 9.5
    females.
    Two adult females from Guatemala 52 36.2 12.2 16 9.5
    Ten adult females from Costa Rica 54.4 33.9 13.2 16.3 9.7
    Three adult females from Panamá 55.2 35.9 13.2 16 9.7
  14. ↑ While the only specimen from a locality south of Colombia seen by me is certainly not the same as the Colombian and Central American form, Hellmayr says (Verb. k. k. Zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 1903, 211) that the latter extends as far as south-eastern Peru. It would therefore appear that two forms occur in Ecuadór and Peru. (See also Berlepsch and Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1883, 564, 565, where peculiarities of specimens from northern Peru are discussed.)
  15. ↑ M. A. Carriker, jr., on labels.
  16. ↑ Thirteen specimens.
  17. ↑ Thirteen specimens.
    Locality. Wing. Tail. Culmen. Tarsus. Middle
    toe.
    males.
    Three adult males from Panamá 49.8 33 15.2 16.7 10.8
    Ten adult males from Costa Rica 51 32.5 14.7 16.2 10.9
    females.
    Three adult females from Panamá 49.5 33.3 14 16.7 10.8
    Ten adult males from Costa Rica (8), Nicaragua (1), and Honduras (1) 50.8 34.4 14.7 16.6 11.1
  18. ↑ I have not seen a specimen from Ecuadór.
  19. ↑ Probably also in the closely related M. quixensis and M. bicolor, which, however, I have not seen.
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