Odontomachus assiniensis Emery

Type location Ivory Coast (Emery, 1892d: 558, worker; Santschi, 1910c: 350, queen; Forel, 1913e: 666, queen & male; Santschi, 1914b: 57, male) collected at Assinie by Ch. Alluaud, vii-viii.1886; junior synonyms (Brown, 1976a, Bolton 1995) aterrimus (Wheeler, 1922: 102, worker), fauconneti (Forel, 1910a: 27, worker), furvior (Wheeler, 1922: 101, worker & queen) and fuscus (Stitz, 1916: 372, worker & queen) from Zaïre, caffrorum (Santschi, 1914e: 14, worker) from South Africa, flavescens (Bernard, 1952: 215, worker & queen) from Guinea, Mt. Nimba; intermedius (Stitz, 1911b: 378, worker) from Tanzania, tropicalis (Menozzi, 1922a: all forms) from Principé Is., plus the unavailable and unnecessary name oblita (for fuscus Baroni Urbani, 1971b: 360); all forms known .

Emery's (1892d) description is at . Forel's (1913e) descriptions of the male and queen are at . Forel's (1910a) description of fauconneti is at . Stitz's (1911b) description of intermedius is at . Santschi's (1914e) description of the male is at . Santschi's (1914e) description of caffrorum is at . Stitz's (1916) description of fuscus is at . Menozzi's (1922a) description of tropicalis is at . Arnold (1926: 218) provided an illustrated translation of caffrorum, plus a commentary on the differences from troglodytes; this is at . Brown's revision (1976a) is at .

Emery (1899e: 476) noted that his original description of a single specimen from Assinie, Ivory Coast (1892d), was of a medium size worker with a reddish head. On receipt of several specimens from Cameroun, collected by L Conradt, Emery found a TL range from 11.0-14.0 mm; head size range HL 3.0 HW 2.1 to HL 3.6 HW 2.8 mm.

WORKER - no size given by Brown (1976a) but "averages larger in size" (than troglodytes) [Emery (1899e) gave TL 11.0-14.0 mm], with a higher, more compressed petiolar node. Also differentiated by 4-segmented labial palps. Colour variable from all over brown, most commonly with yellow legs; Ghana forest zone individuals often with a red head and yellow legs.

The photomontage is of a specimen from the Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha NP; Camp 3; 02°50’01.8" N 16°08’13.7" E 375m; 07.ii.2005, U.V : 18h-5h, dans petite saline à proximité du camp; collector Philippe Annoyer. Other images can be seen in the folder at -

A further collection from Kwazulu, Natal, South Africa, St. Lucia, S 28°23.2' E 32°24.3'; sea level; was sent to me by Peter Hlavác; 7-8.ii.2004

Widespread in warmer parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Wheeler (1922) listed findings from Ghana (Aburi, F. Silvestri), Togo (Bismarckburg, Conradt, Büttner; Misahöhe, Baumann), Cameroun (Bartsch at ?; Molundu by Schultze; Mundame, L. Conradt; Soppo, von Rothkirch), and several other sub-Saharan records.

Bernard (1952) described it as less common and more localised than "haematodus" (troglodytes), more often found in the forests of Congo westwards than in eastern Africa (where it was conspicuous in the mountains of Kenya and Mozambique). The Guinea form, which was very abundant in Lamotte's collections, was notable for its yellow head (other forms being red-brown), entirely yellow tarsi (others with brown femurs), and, the propodeum partly black and shiny (others brown-red and dull). Otherwise the Nimba forms differed little from the Ivory Coast type, although the thorax was more shiny and the petiole spine straighter and sharper. The combination led to his designation of the subspecies flavescens (illustrated below, scan of photocopy of photo). This seems to be a form of higher levels, with the yellow colour being constant across the massif. Findings were from Kéoulenta, type worker and 2 other, plus 1 queen. Numerous cotype workers were collected from Yalanzou; Nion; Camp IV, 1000 m; Zouépo, grassland at 1050 m; Nion crest, 1300 m, scrub; Mount Tô, 1600 m.

Ledoux (1952) reported preliminary research on the species, including determining that the major food was termites, although other kinds of small insects found during its surface foraging were taken. The larger prey were stung but smaller insects were killed by a simple mandibular strike.

Reported from Ghana cocoa leaf litter and nesting in dead wood on the ground, also from low scrub, at the Mampong Cemetery farm (Room, 1971). A single collection of eight workers from secondary forest at CRIG (23.xii.1991), was made by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).

The photomontage is of a cotype of Odontomachus assiniensis furvior from Zaïre. The original photographs, together with enlarged images, are from the MCZ, Harvard University, website at - MCZ link.

The photomontage is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=sam-hym-c002699a Collection details - South Africa: Natal: north of Richards Bay; 28°40'00"S 032°14'00"E Collection Information Collection codes: SAM-HYM-C002699 Date: 26 Jan-2 Feb 1991 Collected by: A.de Kock, J.D.Majer : Natal: north of Richards Bay; 28°40'00"S 032°14'00"E Collection Information Collection codes: SAM-HYM-C002699 Date: 26 Jan-2 Feb 1991 Collected by: A.de Kock, J.D.Majer .