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Bothroponera picardi
| Bothroponera picardi | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Ponerinae |
| Tribe: | Ponerini |
| Genus: | Bothroponera |
| Species group: | sulcata |
| Species: | B. picardi |
| Binomial name | |
| Bothroponera picardi (Forel, 1901)
| |
Bothroponera picardi was collected from trees in Cubango at the Southern East edge of Angola and from Cuito in the central region of Angola between the Cubango and Cuito Rivers. This habitat is different from the typical habitat for the members of B. sulcata complex, which are generally found nesting under stones or in and under Acacia trees trunks. It is possible that B. picardi also nests in the soil under stones and was only foraging on the trees. From the limited number of B. picardi specimens (4) that are available and the lack of published biological and ecological information, or even on the labels, it is impossible to speculate more on the biology of this species. (Joma and Mackay 2017)
Identification
Joma and Mackay (2017) – A member of the Bothroponera sulcata species complex. Worker Easily recognized, as the entire dorsal of the mesosoma is bare, without erect hairs generally seen in other Bothroponera species. surface even lacks the fine hairs that usually in the other species complexes. There are other areas that are covered moderately to abundantly by moderately long hairs, including the mandibles, clypeus, ventral surface of the head and the ventral sides of the pygidium. The hairs on ventral surface of the head are few in number and short (0.15 - 0.20 mm). The hairs on the clypeus and mandibles are moderately denser than those on the other surfaces including the head (from 0.20 - 0.25 mm on the ventral surface of the head, less than 0.12 mm on the mandibles, clypeus and antennae). Slightly abundant long hairs are present on the pygidium, around the sting (up to 0.20 mm on the dorsum, less than 0.20 mm on the ventral surface The mandibles have about 7 teeth and are smooth. The anterior medial margin of the clypeus forms a shiny groove on the medial raised area.
The head is densely and roughly sculptured with very few punctulae. The notopropodeum, petiole and postpetiole are roughly sculptured, weakly shiny with a few punctae spread on the dorsum, which is weakly shiny, but the petiole and postpetiole are shiny. The mesopleuron is roughly sculptured with a few punctae spread over the surface. The antennae, mandibles and legs are shiny
Easily separated from the rest of the species in the Bothroponera sulcata species complex by lacking erect hairs on the notopropodeum. Bothroponera picardi has an anterior medial raised clypeal area that forms a smooth shiny groove or flat longitudinal raised narrow area that is identical to those of Bothroponera crassa, Bothroponera ilgii, Bothroponera kruegeri, Bothroponera silvestrii and Bothroponera soror. This area is very short in Bothroponera kruegeri, forms a shiny wide longitudinal groove in Bothroponera notaula, a narrow sculptured slightly striated on the upper part, slightly depressed area on the lower part in Bothroponera ryderae, without a groove in Bothroponera pilosuperficia and covered completely or partially with fine striae in B. soror and Bothroponera ancilla. Bothroponera picardi is small (total length 6.30 - 6.50 mm), however, it is similar in length to B. crassa (6.00 - 8.80 mm) and B. silvestrii (5.25 - 7.05 mm). The dorsopropodeum is strongly curved to form a strong obtuse angle with the posteropropodeum, which is slightly concave with a slight dorsal depression. This character can also be seen in B. soror, B. silvestrii, B. ancilla, B. ryderae and B. pilosuperficia.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -12.38333° to -12.38333°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Angola (type locality).
Distribution based on AntMaps
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
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- picardi. Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) picardi Forel, 1901d: 304 (w.) ANGOLA.
- Type-material: lectotype worker (by designation of Joma & Mackay, 2017: 32), 2 paralectotype workers.
- Type-locality: lectotype Angola (“West Africa”): Mossamedes, between Rivers Cubango and Cuito (H. Baum & van der Kellen); paralectotypes with same data.
- Type-depository: MHNG.
- [Also described as new by Forel, 1903e: 559.]
- Combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 308;
- combination in Bothroponera: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 72; Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 77.
- Status as species: Emery, 1911d: 77; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 72 (in key), 771; Santschi, 1930b: 54; Bolton, 1995b: 308; Joma & Mackay, 2017: 31 (redescription).
- Distribution: Angola.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Worker
Joma and Mackay (2017) - (n=4), HL 1.26-1.29, HW 1.05-1.11, ML 0.75-0.84, EW 0.18-0.27, EL 0.30-0.36, SL 1.05, FL 1.62-1.71, WL 1.92-1.98, WPL 2.40-2.49, PL 0.57-0.60, PW 0.66-0.72, PH 0.81-0.93, CI 83.33-86.04, OI 28.57-32.43, MandI 59.52-65.11, SI 94.59-100.00, PetI 115.78-120.00. Total length 6.30-6.50 mm; compound eyes relatively small; malar space length 0.15 mm, length from upper edge of eye to upper margin of posterior lobe 0.55 mm; pronotal humerus rounded anteriorly, lower margins (side view) slightly curved, rounded anteriorly, sharp posteriorly; nearly entire body lacks erect hairs; entire body black or reddish brown; legs, antennae and mandibles red or reddish brown.
Type Material
Joma and Mackay (2017) - Angola: Cubango, 12°3'0" S; 15°40'0" E, Cuito [Kuito] Lat: 12°22'0" S; Long: 15°40'0" E; Mossamedes Lat: 15°11'46" S; Long: 1 2°9' 8 " E, West Africa, Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) picardi Forel, Baron v. Picard (4w, lectotype middle specimen, paralectotype lower and upper specimens [here designated] Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève).
References
- Brown, W. L., Jr. 1995a. [Untitled. Taxonomic changes in Pachycondyla attributed to Brown.] Pp. 302-311 in: Bolton, B. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 308, Combination in Pachycondyla)
- Forel, A. 1901g. Einige neue Ameisen aus Südbrasilien, Java, Natal und Mossamedes. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 10: 297-311 (page 304, worker described)
- Joma, A.M.A. & Mackay, W.P. 2017. Revision of the African ants of the Bothroponera sulcata species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 143:7-71.
- Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa 3817, 1–242 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1).
- Wheeler, W. M. 1922b. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 45: 39-269 (page 72, Combination in Bothroponera)
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Emery C. 1911. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125.
- Forel A. 1903. Einige neue Ameisen aus Sud-Angola. Pp 559-564, in: Baum, H. Kunene-Sambesi-Expedition, 1903. Berlin: Verlag des Kolonial-Wirtschaftlichen Komitees, 593pp.
- IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection