Pachycondyla (Xiphopelta) testacea (Bernard)
Type location Guinea (Euponera (Mesoponera) testacea,
Bernard, 1952: 191, illustrated, worker) from Mt. Nimba, Nion, at
700 m, 15-iv-1942, collector Lamotte; single holotype worker only
described (see Bolton, 1995)
 .
TL 5.2 mm, HL 1.15, HW 0.95 mm. Whole of body and appendages
shiny yellow-brown, except the anterior pronotum, the apex of the
gaster and the antennal funiculi which are darker. Head and base
of mesonotum finely shagreened, with notable puncturation,
remainder smooth and shiny. Head dorsum, with widely spaced
shallow black puncturations. Fine whitish hairs all over, simple
pubescence on the head. Head longer than wide, less accentuated
anterior narrowing than
Pachycondyla
nimba; clypeus similar but centrally less convex,
overall rather more slender. Mandibles slender, 13 teeth yellow
and moderately large. Eyes brown, flat, with some 30 facets,
distance from mandible bases about equal to their length. Thorax
and petiole notable for the posterior declivity of the propodeum
(epinotum) which is shorter than the basal - in nimba the
declivity is twice the base length - also less concave. |
The photomontage of the holotype is collated from