Pachycondyla (Trachymesopus) darwinii (Forel)

Type location Australia (Belonopelta darwinii, Forel, 1893d: 460, queen; Terayama, 1990: 897, worker) from Darwin; junior synonyms lamarki (Santschi, 1913c: 303, queen; synonymy by Brown, 1963: 6 - note he actually wrote "all of these forms [medium small ferruginous-cloured females] may well represent a single species) from Congo, collected at Southern Darbanda, by Decorse; rufotestaceus (Cryptopone rufotestaceus, Donisthorpe, 1943b: 197, queen) from India; subspecies africana (Forel, 1909b: 51, queen; Santschi, 1914b: 51, male) from Congo, collected at Luki, by A. Jullien; indica (Emery, 1899f: 268, queen) from Burma; and madecassa (Emery, 1899f: 268, queen) from Madagascar; all forms described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Forel's (1893d) description of the queen is at . Forel's (1900d) description of indica is at . Forel's (1909b) description of africana is at . Santschi's (1913c) description of lamarki is at - Brown (1963: 6) synonymizing this with darwinii described it as a large variant (TL 5.6 mm). Donisthorpe's (1943b) description of rufotestaceus is at .

Notes on African forms

The queen of africana, as described by Forel (1909b), has - head almost as wide as long; petiole node less truncated than the type, more rounded posteriorly, upper anterior border less clear and, in profile not forming an slightly acuminate angle (seen in the type, but as in indica). Rest as variety indica, and even more so var. madecassa, which has a similar petiole node, but not as rounded as africana. Specimen from Zaïre, Luki, Lower Congo, by Dr. A. Jullien.

Santschi's lamarki queen has TL 6 mm; but clypeus impressed in the centre between two rudiments of carinae which reunite posteriorly. Propodeum dorsum longer than wide. More robust that darwini Forel

Wheeler (1922) listed it (as variety africana) from Nigeria (Lagos, F. Silvestri), Zaïre and Kenya. Santschi (1930a: 54-55) lists lamarcki from Mali, Koulouba (Andrieu, xii.1928, 1 queen) and Ivory Coast (Dimbroko, Le Moult, 1 queen); he listed africana also from Mali, Koulouba (Andrieu, vi.1928, 2 queens)

The distribution suggests that it is a tramp species, moving aboard ship, and mostly known from the female form only but that would not account for the records from well inland in Mali.

Terayama (1990: 897) - see - described what he felt was the previously undescribed worker. The photomontage at the bottom shows a worker presented on www.Antweb.org that is from the type area around Darwin, Australia. Generally that and the Terayama drawing are similar but the Australian specimen clearly show the prominent median tooth on the anterior margin of the clypeus that was emphahsised by Forel (1893d).

The photomontage is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0172437&shot=p1&project=null. It is labelled as P. darwini. Australia: Northern Territory: Baroalba Gorge; 12°30'00"S 132°31'12"E Collection Information: Collection codes: ANTC6642 Collected by: R.W.Taylor & J.E.Feehan Habitat: rainforest Date: 18 Nov 1972 Method: under stone.