Pachycondyla (Mesoponera) escherichi Forel
Type location Eritrea (Pachycondyla (Bothroponera)
escherichi n. sp., Forel, 1910c: 244, worker; combination in
Mesoponera, Emery, 1911d: 82); worker only described (see
Bolton, 1995; who had type location "Ethiopia")
 .
Forel's (1910c) description is at
 .
P. escherichi: translation of original description
(Marcus Stüben, 8.11.2006) Worker. TL 5 mm, mandibles not
long, with 7 teeth, shiny, scattered coarse punctures, nearly
smooth (with a few weak striae), the base of the external margin
of the mandible without a pit or fovea. Clypeus convex, without
any carina, with an anterior median blunt triangular lobe, only
weakly projecting forward. Head rectangular, about 1/6 longer than
broad, with moderately convex sides, in front nearly as broad as
behind (behind just a little broader), the occiput weakly concave.
Eyes flat, small, set in the anterior third of the head with
hardly 40 indistinct facettes (about 8 or 9 mm longitudinal
diameter [obviously a misprint, perhaps 0.8-0.9 mm]). Frontal
carinae short and widest apart anteriorly, median groove (on
vertex) hardly longer than frontal carinae. The antennal scape not
or hardly reaching beyond the occiput. Joints of the funiculus 2
to 10 about as broad as long (the first ones a little longer than
broad, the last ones reverse). Both thoracic sutures distinct,
with the metanotal suture being weaker. Mesonotum as broad as
long. The dorsum (basal area) of propodeum longer than broad and
as long as the declivity. Alitrunk shape as in crassa, but
the dorsum only very slightly longitudinally convex. The propodeal
declivity weakly sinuous and not sharply margined. The mesopleura
in front with a blunt tooth, which faces another blunt one on the
lowest hind corner of the pronotum. Petiole scale as high as the
gaster, twice as broad as long, in front and behind vertically cut
off, with nearly smooth, a little concave and bluntly margined
posterior face; with a ventral vertical longitudinal lobe. Gaster
in front cut off, weakly girdled between the first and second
segments. Tibiae with two spurs, the second small. Middle and hind
metatarsi quite long, on outer/dorsal side without setae, these
only on the inner/ventral side. Overall very densely punctuate and
dull. Gaster and petiole moderately shiny, less dense and more
finely punctuate; also the legs and the scape. In addition there
are coarse, not very well defined, scattered pit-like punctures on
the gaster, petiole and alitrunk dorsum. Quite short, yellowish
and fine erect pilosity; quite abundant on the gaster, less on the
alitrunk and few only the head and scape, none on the tibiae.
Pubescence all over fine, yellowish, moderate. Brownish-red;
antennae and legs a little brighter; mandibles brownish-yellow.
From Nefassit. Holotype worker only. This species tends to the
genus Euponera (Mesoponera) because of the
distinct metanotal groove or suture [absent in Bothroponera].
All other characters match its relatives in the subgenus Bothroponera.
Anyway it is close to Euponera (Mesoponera) fossigera
Mayr from South Africa (Kapland), but it lacks a fovea on the
basal part of the mandible [this is confusing as fossigera
lacks a fovea - so this may imply escherichi does have
one!]. Mayr himself is not sure to which genera his species
belongs. |
Nigeria specimens (as Mesoponera caffraria,
Taylor, 1976: 25). WORKER. Size variable, TL 6.97-7.66 mm, HL
1.68-1.87, HW 1.43-1.59, SL 1.24-1.40, PW 1.09-1.18.
Dense pilosity. Mandibles large triangular, with more than eight
teeth. Clypeus longitudinally carinate. Metanotal groove present
and impressed. Propodeum compressed above, considerably narrower
in dorsal view than the pronotum, posterior face concave. Petiole
a thick scale, subpetiolar process with rounded corners or a very
small tooth at the anterior corner. Colour dark red-brown, lighter
brown on extremities, funicular apex yellow.
I collected it from under a dead log and in soil at the base of a
large tree, also on leaf litter at the Cocoa Research Institute of
Nigeria, Idi Ayunre, Block E5/1.
Apparently quite similar to
Pachycondyla
wroughtoni, but that is smaller and has striated
mandibles. As the definitive
Pachycondyla
caffraria is well defined and matched by the specimens
from Nigeria and Cameroun, it seems clear that this is a variation
of escherichi. |
The
photomontage is of a specimen from South Africa, collated from