Axinidris bidens

Snelling (2007) - Samples from Cameroun were collected from living stems of Leonardoxa africana. At Isecheno I collected workers running on a fallen tree trunk. One colony collected at Isecheno, on 30 April 2003 from a living stem of Acanthus eminens consisted of a single queen and 44 workers in addition to 19 pupae (17 workers). Alate queens were collected from colony samples in Cameroun during the month of November. This species has been collected by Thomas Wagner while fogging Teclea nobilis, a common forest tree species. Other fogging samples, collected by W. Freund, included some from Heinsenia diervillioides, in addition to T. nobilis. These data suggest that Axinidris bidens, and probably all species of Axinidris, are able to utilize stems or branches of a wide variety of plant species as nesting sites.

Identification
Snelling (2007) - Pronotal humeri and propodeal spines each with a single long fully erect hair, mesosoma otherwise without erect hairs; antennal scape shaft without erect hairs; medial carina absent and propodeal spines distinct.

Shattuck (1991) - A. bidens is similar to Axinidris parvus in its lack of both a medial propodeal carina and strigulate sculpturing near the mandibular insertion. It can be separated from A. parvus by its larger size, darker head and alitrunk colour, and stronger sculpturing on the lateral areas of the head. Additionally, A. bidens is similar to Axinidris tridens in having the propodeal spines reduced to angles, but differs in several other characters including the possession of an elongate erect hair on each propodeal spine.

Key to Axinidris species

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Central African Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda.

Castes
Males have yet to be collected.

Nomenclature

 *  bidens. Axinidris bidens Shattuck, 1991: 111, figs. 8-10, 35 (w.) GHANA. Snelling, R.R. 2007: 557 (q.).

Worker
(n=3). OOD 0.22-0.25, EL 0.17-0.18, HL 0.61-0.68, EW 0.09-0.10, HW 0.53-0.58, CNW 0.06-0.07, CND 0.04, SL 0.46-0.48, AL 0.84-0.87, PpW 0.24-0.25, SW 0.13-0.17, CI 0.86-0.90, CNI 0.61-0.67, REL 0.30-0.32, Sci 0.84-0.85, SpI 1.47-1.50.

Small (HW <0.60); area between propodeal spines smooth, without a medial carina; pronotum with 2 elongate, erect hairs; each propodeal spine bearing a single distinct, erect hair; head, alitrunk and gaster reddish brown.

Head finely imbricate (including the area near the mandibular insertion), with the lateral areas nearly smooth and with widely spaced punctures; pilosity limited to one pair of erect hairs on the frontal lobes and one pair on the clypeus. Erect and suberect hairs absent from antennal scapes. Dorsum of pronotum and mesonotum, and entire propodeum, imbricate, with the lateral areas of the pronotum and mesonotum weakly imbricate. Pronotum with one pair of elongate hairs dorsally. Propodeal spiracles with the posterior surface only slightly depressed below the level of the anterior surface. Medial propodeal carina absent. Propodeal spines reduced to lateral angles partly connected by a carina, each bearing an elongate, erect setae, and with the area between them slightly concave. Erect hairs present on gastric tergites 2, 3 and 4. Body colour reddish brown, with the tibia, femur and antenna light reddish brown, the tarsi light yellow, and the mandibles yellowish red, darker basally.

Queen
Snelling (2007) - (mm) (n = 4). HW 0.62-0.63; HL 0.77-0.81; SL 0.50-0.51; EL 0.21-0.23; OVD 0.29-0.32; PNW 0.51-0.58; PPW 0.37; WL 1.05-1.17. Indices. CI 76-82; CNI 80; OI 33-38; SI 80-83.

Generally similar to worker but a little larger and with more elongate head; mesosoma fully developed for flight; interocular distance 1.61-1.87× EL; interocellar distance 3×diameter of median ocellus; ocellocular distance about 6× diameter of median ocellus; medial carina absent; sculpture and pilosity similar to those of worker; mesonotum and metanotum each with a single long erect hair on each side; gastral pilosity about as in worker, but appressed pubescence sparser; total length about 2.5mm.

Type Material
Type material. Holotype worker and two worker paratypes from GHANA: Tafo (C.Campbell).