Neoponera agilis

A rarely collected species with large workers that have elongate mandibles. Individuals are dark colored and are covered with a fine yellowish pubescence.

Identification
Mackay and Mackay (2010): There are only two species of Pachycondyla which have greatly elongated mandibles: Pachycondyla agilis and Pachycondyla rostrata. Pachycondyla agilis can be separated from P. rostrata by the lack of a pronotal carina.

The holotype of P. agilis is apparently lost and the holotype of P. goyana was not available. Borgmeier (1937) distinguishes P. goyana from P. rostrata, but not from P. agilis. The two taxa do not appear to differ significantly, based on the descriptions and P. goyana is considered to be a synonym of P. agilis. It is doubtful that P. agilis can be separated from P. rostrata, but sufficient material is not available to evaluate the variation in the two species. The specific distinction of the three species was doubted by Kempf (1978).

Distribution
Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

This taxon was described from U.S.A. (but this is likely an error - see type locality information below).

Habitat
Mackay and Mackay (2010): Kempf (1978) mentioned this species occurs in cerrado [dense scrub vegetation] in Brazil. Kusnezov (1969) collected three specimens along a path in a tropical rain forest.

Abundance
Rarely collected.

Worker
Mackay and Mackay (2010): (Based on Forel, 1901 and Borgmeier, 1937): the worker is a moderately large (the lengths of the mesosoma and gaster are 10.5 mm, the length of the head, including the mandibles 4.8 mm, length of mandibles 2.3 mm) dark ant with the mesosoma, gaster, antenna, clypeus and legs in part reddish brown and petiole dark brown. The mandibles are yellowish ferrugineous. The mandibles are extremely long with 18 teeth or denticles, which alternate between large and small. The clypeus is convex anteriorly; the head is narrowed anteriorly, with the posterior corners rounded and the posterior border straight. The malar carina is developed, but does not reach the eye. The eyes are located slightly anterior to the middle of the head and are strongly convex (diameter 0.5 mm). The scape extends about ⅓ its length past the posterior lateral corner of the head. The pronotal shoulder is completely rounded without a carina, the metanotal suture is deeply impressed on the dorsum of the mesosoma (similar to P. constricta) and breaks the sculpture; the propodeal spiracle is slit-shaped. The petiole is wider than tall with the anterior face ascending to the apex and is posteriorly truncated. The subpetiolar process is triangular anteriorly followed by a broad concave region.

The body is completely covered with a fine yellowish pubescence. The pilosity is sparse, short on the head and the antenna, sparse on the mesosoma, but abundant on the gaster and the anterior face of the mandibles. The middle of the clypeus has two short hairs.

The head is covered with foveolate punctures; the clypeus is covered with longitudinal striae (not present in the description of P. agilis) and with two or three transverse coarse rugae. The mandibles are shiny with sparse punctures. The mesosoma has punctures finer than those on the head; the propodeum has fine transverse striae. The petiole is reticulated and truncated, the apex has a brilliant smooth area. The gaster is finely punctate and subopaque.

Queen
The female is unknown, although Kempf (1978) lists an alate female from Brasil. Kusnezov (1969) mentions in a footnote that he collected an ergatotype, which is deposited in the Instituto Miguel Lillo, # 4792. (Mackay and Mackay (2010).

Male
No males are known for this species.

Type Material
Apparently lost (Mackay and Mackay 2010).

Type Locality Information
Forel reported in his original description that he received a single specimen with the label "Cal." He interpreted this to mean "Californie" but this appears to be an error as the species is highly unlikely to be found there. Mackay and Mackay (2010) suggest the label should have been "Col." for Columbia. This would place the locality much closer to the currently known range of P. agilis. The holotype may be lost hence it is not possible to check the the original label.

Etymology
The name of this species comes from the Latin word agilis, which means nimble, presumably referring to the activity of this species. (Mackay and Mackay 2010)

Additional References
Borgmeier, T. 1937. Formigas novas ou pouco conhecidas da América do Sul e Central, principalmente do Brasil. Arch. Inst. Biol. Veget. Rio de Janeiro 3:217-255.

Forel, A. 1901. Variétés Myrmécologiques. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 45: 334-382.

Kempf, W. 1978. Five new synonyms for the Argentine ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Studia Entomologica 20:35-38.

Kusnezov, N. 1969. Nuevas especies de hormigas. Acta Zoológica Lilloana 24:33-38.