Axinidris mlalu

Identification
Snelling (2007) - Scape shaft, pronotum and gastral terga without erect hairs; distance between apices of propodeal spines less than distance between propodeal spiracles; gastral tergum 1 yellow, segments 2-4 dark brown.

The sharply contrastingly bicolored gaster and lack of erect hairs on both the mesosomal and gastral dorsa are distinctive for this species

Key to Axinidris species

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Central African Republic.

Castes
Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

 *  mlalu. Axinidris mlalu Snelling, R.R. 2007: 566 (w.) CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC.

Worker
(mm) (n - 1). HW 0.74; HL 0.86; SL 0.68; EL 0.21; OVD 0.31; PNW 0.49; PPW 0.36; WL 1.03. Indices. CI 87; CNI 100; SI 91; OI 28.

Front of head moderately shiny, weakly coriarious and strigulate between sparse minute punctures; gena shinier and with few strigulae, malar area more strongly coriarious. Antennal scape without erect hairs; each frontal carina with 1 pair of long erect hairs; upper frons with a single submedian pair of long hairs below vertex margin. Mesosomal dorsum without erect hairs. Pronotal disc smooth and shiny. Mesonotum shiny, anteriorly smooth, posteriorly sharply punctate. Mesepisternum shiny, with faint longitudinal rugae.

Metepisternum densely and relatively coarsely punctate. Propodeum contiguously finely punctate; dorsal face slightly convex in profile; medial carina absent from dorsal face except at summit of declivity, where it is low and broadly rounded; medial carina present on declivitous face; spiracular prominence well-developed, spiracular opening directly obliquely distad; propodeal teeth short and distance between their bases less than distance between spiracles.

Gastral terga shiny and unsculptured except for close fine piligerous punctures; all terga without erect hairs.

Head light brownish with yellowish clypeus and mandibles; mesosoma light brownish, paler on pronotum and sides; gaster dark brown but tergum 1 yellow, concolorous with petiole.

Type Material
Holotype worker, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, Songha-Mbaéré Pref., Parc National Dzanga-Ndoki, "37.9 km 169°S" Lidjombo, 2°22'N 16°10'E, 360m, 20-28 May 2000 (B.L. Fisher, #4128), beating low vegetation, rainforest, in.

Etymology
The name is an arbitrary combination to be treated as a noun in apposition