Aenictus decolor (Mayr)

Type location East Africa (perhaps an error) (Typhlatta decolor, Mayr, 1879: 668 in key; worker only); junior synonyms batesi (Forel, 1911e: 255, worker) from Nigeria, collected at Old Calabar by Bates; and bidentatus (Donisthorpe, 1942e: 701, worker) from Ghana; workers and queen described (see Bolton, 1995). Reviewed by Gotwald & Leroux (1980: 600, illustrated, queen & worker) from Ivory Coast .

Mayr's (1879) description is at . Donisthorpe's (1942) description of bidentatus is at . From Forel's (1911e) description of batesi , given the size, reference to eugenii (the shape of the pedicel segments being like the illustration, from Bernard, 1953), and the colour (brown with yellowish legs), it seems that this is what I portrayed as species 2 (below); this is supported also by Donisthorpe's description of bidentatus. The Gotwald & Leroux paper (1980) is at .

Arnold (1915: 143) quoted Mayr (1878), in translation?, - TL 3.3 mm; head smooth and without frontal sulcus. The very short declivity is separated from the dorsum of the propodeum by a sharp semicircular ridge. All the funiculus joints at least a little longer than wide. The mandibles longitudinally striate, smooth near the masticatory margin. The sides of the alitrunk longitudinally rugose. Rusty red; antennae, gaster and legs yellow.

Nigeria specimens (as Aenictus species 2, Taylor, 1980b: 7). WORKER. TL 3.27 mm, HL 0.62, HW 0.61, SL 0.47, PW 0.42
Colour dark orange-brown, legs and gaster more yellow; very shiny and polished with a translucent cuticle. Sculpturation of the anterior, pronotum and lateral areas of the pedicel of very fine transverse striations; lateral mesonotum and propodeum are fairly strongly rugoreticulate, with rugae dominating. Erect hairs long, relatively coarse and abundant. Anterior clypeal margin produced medially to form a single tooth. Mandibles very darkly coloured with a large digitiform basal tooth, a large apical tooth and a moderately large intermediate tooth, the apices overlap when mandibles closed. Propodeum marginate, with a concave profile to the declivity. Petiole domed, subpetiolar process well developed and rectangular, subpostpetiolar process is blunt triangular.
I collected it on a path and from a plot of cashew at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Idi Ayunre.