Paratrechina nimba Bernard - new status

Type location Guinea (Paratrechina weissi Sant. sbsp. nimba n.sbsp, Bernard, 1952: 258, illustrated, worker, possible queen) one queen and 24 workers from savanna locations - Kéoulenta and Sérengbara (stations F169, F173 and T200), cotypes numerous workers preserved in alcohol; worker described .

Bernard's (1952) note, with description of nimba is at .

WORKER - TL not given; that of nimba queen 4.8 mm. Form of Paratrechina weissi and nimba very similar, save for the shape of the propodeum - as shown. Colour of some nimba specimens dark yellow (as with weissi) and others brown with the thorax clearer (after Bernard, 1952).

Bernard also reported the species from Banco, Ivory Coast (Delamare-Deboutteville, 1945).

The denotation of nimba as a subspecies of weissi by Bernard is somewhat surprising when one considers his separation of arlesi from its relatives on thorax details, albeit noting that arlesi perhaps was larger than its relatives. The indications are that a sparsity of weissi specimens may have deterred Bernard from defining nimba as more than a subspecies.

Speculatively the photomontage is of a specimen of nimba from Benin, Bonou, Forêt de Ghamboué; N 06°22'28" E 02°31'32"; Pitfall trap; collector S Tchibozo; 27.viii.2006. Certainly the propodeum profile is an exact match, as is the colour (yellow) brown, with the alitrunk lighter. Apparently exceptionally for Paratrechina, however, this specimen has distinct ocelli. The nature of the erect pilosity differs from other sub-Saharan species, as all others have relatively sparse coarse hairs, with only a few pairs on the alitrunk, whereas on nimba the hairs are quite fine and quite abundant on the alitrunk. Such fine hairs, however, can be seen on Paratrechina jaegerskioeldi from Egypt.

Other images can be seen in the folder at -