Pachycondyla (Xiphopelta) villiersi (Bernard)
Type location Guinea (Euponera (Xiphopelta) villiersi,
Bernard, 1952: 193, illustrated, worker) from Mt. Nimba, from termite
hill at 700 m, (ix-1946, Villiers); holotype and two other workers;
worker only described (see Bolton, 1995)
.
TL 5.3-5.6 mm, HL 1.35 HW 0.90 mm.
A very distinct form. Colour pale reddish, clypeal margin and part of
gaster darker, appendages dark-yellow. Head very finely shagreened,
somewhat shiny, remainder smooth and shiny, puncturation fine and
rare. White pubescence on head and thorax, plus erect whitish hairs
(less dense than on picea). Head with clypeus uniformly convex
and smooth apart from some puncturation, laterally narrower than
related species. Eyes black, flat, elongated, with 20 plus facets;
some 2.5 times further from mandible bases than own length. Mandible
with 13 teeth, small, black and spaced out, more inequal than
Pachycondyla
picea. Propodeum notably more humped in profile than close
relatives; posterior to the hump the declivity is twice as short,
flat, and limited laterally by fine borders. |