Psalidomyrmex procerus Emery
Type location Cameroun (Emery, 1901a: 50, all forms, only
worker is new; first described by Emery, 1899e: 471, queen & male
as P. foevolatus) presumably collected at Mundame by Conradt;
junior synonyms collarti (Santschi, 1937g: 74, worker)
collected at Ituri, Matenda by A. Collart, 22.ix.1929; and obesus
(Wheeler, 1922: 92, fig.19, see right, worker) from Zaïre,
longiscapus (Santschi, 1920b: 8, queen) from Gabon,
collected at Samkita by F. Faure; all forms described (see Bolton,
1995)  .
Emery's (1899e) description of the queen & male is at
 .
Emery's (1901a) correction is at
 .
Santschi's (1920b) description of longiscapus is at
 .
Santschi (1937g) synonymised obesus and described collarti,
these are at
 .
Bolton's modern description (1975b) is at
 .
|
 WORKER - large, TL 11.4-16.2 mm; mandibles elongate-subtriangular,
edentate. Antennal scapes relatively short, head relatively broad,
petiole broader than long. Colour black (Bolton, 1975: 12,
illustrated, mandible only). Sculpturation of mandibles, legs,
antennal scapes and expanded lobes of frontal carinae always striate.
Wheeler (1922) listed it also from Togo (Bismarckburg,
Conradt) and Zaïre.
The photomontage is of a cotype of Psalidomyrmex obesus
from Zaïre. The original photographs, together with
enlarged images, are from the MCZ, Harvard University, website at -
MCZ
link.
Bernard (1952, finding not listed by Bolton, 1975) described it as
apparently common in Cameroun and Congo. In Guinea a small
specimen, Nimba II-VI, was shorter (TL 11.8 ) than the type from
Cameroun (TL 15.2), colour black-grey rather than black-red, and
stronger abdominal sculpturation. Otherwise similar with the petiole
and thorax larger than other species. The antennae have good defining
characters (see group illustration). Hairs very sparse and
brown-black.
Bolton (1975b) examined specimens from Cameroun , Yolé
and Mt. Nkolodon (G. Terron) and Matute (B. Malkin). Also from Ghana,
at CRIG (B. Bolton; D. Leston), Kade, Atewa Forest Reserve and
Kukurantumi (D. Leston); Zaïre, Gabon and Uganda (Bolton, 1975b).
A specimen from Zaïre is pictured by Höldobler & Wilson
(1990, page 92).
Presumably from work in Ivory Coast, reported to feed on
earthworms by Lévieux (1982), and to nest in rotten wood on the
ground (Bolton, 1975b).
Bolton & Brown (2002) reported findings from Cameroun, Ottotomo
Forest and Abong Mbang, by A. Dejean; Burundi, by A. Dejean. |
