Probolomyrmex guineensis

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Probolomyrmex guineensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Proceratiinae
Tribe: Probolomyrmecini
Genus: Probolomyrmex
Species: P. guineensis
Binomial name
Probolomyrmex guineensis
Taylor, 1965

Probolomyrmex guineensis casent0101549 profile 1.jpg

Probolomyrmex guineensis casent0101549 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 6.5° to -0.317°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Cameroun, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea (type locality), Ivory Coast, Kenya, Uganda.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Probolomyrmex guineensis casent0101549 head 2.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0101549. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.
Probolomyrmex guineensis casent0101725 head 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0101725 profile 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0101725 dorsal 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0101725 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0101725. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.
Probolomyrmex guineensis casent0101768 head 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0101768 profile 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0101768 dorsal 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0101768 label 1.jpg
Paratype of Probolomyrmex guineensisWorker. Specimen code casent0101768. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.
Probolomyrmex guineensis casent0178270 head 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0178270 profile 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0178270 dorsal 1.jpgProbolomyrmex guineensis casent0178270 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0178270. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by LACM, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • guineensis. Probolomyrmex guineensis Taylor, 1965d: 353, figs. 11, 12 (w.) GUINEA.
    • Type-material: holotype worker, 2 paratype workers.
    • Type-locality: holotype Guinea: Nigorie, Kakoulima (F. Silvestri); paratypes with same data.
    • Type-depositories: NHMB (holotype); BMNH, MHNG (paratypes).
    • [Note: this taxon was first recorded by Santschi, 1914d: 312, as P. filiformis (misidentification). Taylor retrieved the 3 specimens he described; it is assumed the missing 4 are in DEUN.]
    • Status as species: Brown, 1975: 11, 57; Bolton, 1995b: 366; Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 222.
    • Distribution: Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Uganda.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Holotype. HL, 0.61 mm.; HW, 0.41 mm.; SL, 0.38 mm.; CI, 67; SI, 93; WL, 80.0 mm.; PW, 0.30 mm.; dorsal petiole width, 0.17 mm.; petiolar node index, 57; petiole height, 0.31 mm.; petiolar node length, 0.25 mm.; lateral petiolar index, 84. General features are shown in the figures. Close to Probolomyrmex filiformis, but differing from it in the following characters: (1) Smaller size, with relatively broad head. short scapes, and narrow, shorter petiolar node- as indicated in the above dimensions. (2) Punctural element of sculpturation more distinct (shagreening developed on all body and appendage surfaces, as in filiformis). Head capsule with moderately distinct superficial punctures, about 0.005 mm. in diameter, separated by distances about equal to their average diameter; those on sides and postgenal areas most distinct. Puncturation of entire pronotum and remaining mesosomal dorsum similar to frons; punctures of mes- and metepisterna larger and more distinct. Petiole and first 2 segments of gaster with larger shallow punctures, about 0.01 mm. in diameter, separated by distances averaging about half this value. (3) Concavity of declivitous propodeal face, viewed from above, about onequarter as deep as distance separating dorsal points of propodeal lamellae. (4) Subpetiolar process lacking an acute posteroventral tooth. When viewed from above, no trace of a median emargination of the posterior flange of the node.

P. guineensis resembles Probolomyrmex filiformis in all other respects, apart from slightly paler coloration. The three apical maxillary and the terminal labial palpal segments are proportioned as in Probolomyrmex angusticeps.

Paratypes. Two paratype workers agree with the holotype in all essential characters, including details of the measurements and indices.

Type Material

Holotype worker and 2 worker paratypes, GUINEA: Nigorie, Kakoulima (Silvestri). The holotype is deposited in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel, paratypes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) and the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Geneva. There are differences in the original labels on these specimens. That of the holotype reads: Nigorie, Kakoulima (Silvestri); the Geneva Museum specimen has: Kakoulima 12 Ag. 1912; and the British Museum one has: French Guinea-d. F. Santschi-G. A. (presumably G. Arnold)-1914.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 3: 5-16.
  • Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 3: 5-16.
  • CSIRO Collection
  • Garcia F.H., Wiesel E. and Fischer G. 2013.The Ants of Kenya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)—Faunal Overview, First Species Checklist, Bibliography, Accounts for All Genera, and Discussion on Taxonomy and Zoogeography. Journal of East African Natural History, 101(2): 127-222
  • Kone M., S. Konate, K. Yeo, P. K. Kouassi, K. E. Linsemair. 2010. Diversity and abundance of terrrestrial ants along a gradient of land use intensification in a transitional forest-savannah zone of Cote d'Ivoire. Journal of Applied Biosciences 29: 1809-1827.
  • Levieux J. 1972. Etude du peuplement en fourmis terricoles d'une savane preforestiere de Cote d'Ivoire. Revue d'Ecologie et de Biologie du Sol 10(3): 381-428.
  • Lévieux J. 1972. Les fourmis de la savane de Lamto (Côte d'Ivoire): éléments de taxonomie. Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire. Série A. Sciences Naturelles 34: 611-654.
  • Yeo K., S. Konate, S. Tiho, and S. K. Camara. 2011. Impacts of land use types on ant communities in a tropical forest margin (Oumé - Cote d'Ivoire). African Journal of Agricultural Research 6(2): 260-274.
  • Yeo K., T. Delsinne, S. Komate, L. L. Alonso, D. Aidara, and C. Peeters. 2016. Diversity and distribution of ant assemblages above and below ground in a West African forest–savannah mosaic (Lamto, Cote d’Ivoire). Insectes Sociaux DOI 10.1007/s00040-016-0527-6