Lioponera foreli

Brown (1975) - Species of the longitarsus group (=Lioponera) tend to nest in hollow twigs, beetle burrows, or other channels in wood, branches, or bark, and it is possible that they are all arboreal or subarboreal. Lioponera singaporensis was taken originally nesting in a hollow mango twig. Cerapachys foreli has been taken by Raignier and van Boven in hollow twigs in Zaire (personal communication), and I have found this species climbing a tree trunk in sparse single file in a copse in the Dabou Savanna, Ivory Coast.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Cameroun, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya.

Nomenclature

 * . Phyracaces foreli Santschi, 1914d: 309 (w.) GHANA.
 * Type-material: holotype worker.
 * Type-locality: Ghana (“Gold Coast”): Aburi (F. Silvestri).
 * Type-depository: DEUN.
 * Santschi, 1915c: 245 (q.).
 * Combination in Cerapachys: Brown, 1975: 22;
 * combination in Lioponera: Borowiec, M.L. 2016: 163.
 * Status as species: Santschi, 1915c: 245; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 757; Brown, 1975: 22, 60; Bolton, 1995b: 143; Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 201.
 * Senior synonym of langi: Brown, 1975: 22; Bolton, 1995b: 143.
 * Senior synonym of occipitalis: Brown, 1975: 22; Bolton, 1995b: 143.
 * Senior synonym of santschii: Brown, 1975: 22; Bolton, 1995b: 143.
 * Distribution: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria.
 * langi. Phyracaces langi Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 54, fig. 4 (w.q.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
 * Type-material: 7 syntype workers, 8 syntype queens.
 * Type-locality: Democratic Republic of Congo (“Belgian Congo”): Lubila (Lang & Chapin).
 * Type-depository: MCZC.
 * Junior synonym of foreli: Brown, 1975: 22; Bolton, 1995b: 143.
 * occipitalis. Phyracaces occipitalis Bernard, 1953b: 216, fig. 6E (w.) GUINEA.
 * Type-material: holotype worker.
 * Type-locality: Guinea: Camp IV, 1000 m., forêt, station B6.14 (Lamotte).
 * Type-depository: MNHN.
 * Junior synonym of foreli: Brown, 1975: 22; Bolton, 1995b: 144.
 * santschii. Phyracaces santschii Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 56 (in text) (q.) GABON.
 * Type-material: holotype queen.
 * Type-locality: Gabon: Samkita (F. Faure).
 * [Note: this taxon was founded on the queen described as Phyracaces foreli by Santschi, 1915c: 245.]
 * Type-depository: NHMB.
 * Junior synonym of foreli: Brown, 1975: 22; Bolton, 1995b: 144.

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.
 * Braet Y., and B. Taylor. 2008. Mission entomologique au Parc National de Pongara (Gabon). Bilan des Formicidae (Hymenoptera) recoltes. Bulletin S. R. B. E./K.B.V.E. 144: 157-169.
 * Brown W. L., Jr. 1975. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. V. Ponerinae, tribes Platythyreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search Agric. (Ithaca N. Y.) 5(1): 1-115.
 * Davis L. R., and L. E. Alonso. 2007. Ant species collected from the Atewa Range Forest Reserve during the 2006 RAP survey. Pp 171-172. McCullough, J., L.E. Alonso, P. Naskrecki, H.E. Wright and Y. Osei-Owusu (eds.). 2007. A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Eastern Ghana. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 47. Conservation International, Arlington, VA.
 * Deblauwe I., and W. Dekoninck. 2007. Diversity and distribution of ground-dwelling ants in a lowland rainforest in southeast Cameroon. Insect. Soc. 54: 334  342.
 * Dejean A., J. L. Durand, and B. Bolton. 1996. Ants inhabiting Cubitermes termitaries in African rain forest. Biotropica 28(4): 701-713.
 * Hita Garcia F., E. Wiesel, G. Fischer. 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: 127-222.
 * IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
 * 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.
 * Kone M., S. Konate, K. Yeo, P. K. Kouassi, and K. E. Linsenmair. 2012. Changes in ant communities along an age gradient of cocoa cultivation in the Oumé region, central Côte dIvoire. Entomological Science 15: 324339.
 * Majer J. D. 1976. The ant mosaic in Ghana cocoa farms: further structural considerations. Journal of Applied Ecology 13: 145-155.
 * Medler J. T. 1980: Insects of Nigeria - Check list and bibliography. Mem. Amer. Ent. Inst. 30: i-vii, 1-919.
 * Santschi F. 1914. Formicides de l'Afrique occidentale et australe du voyage de Mr. le Professeur F. Silvestri. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 8: 309-385.
 * Santschi F. 1915. Nouvelles fourmis d'Afrique. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 84: 244-282.
 * Taylor B. 1976. Ants of the Nigerian Forest Zone (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). I. Ponerinae, Cerapachyinae, Pseudomyrmecinae. Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria Technical Bulletin Series 4: 1-41.
 * Watt, A.D., N.E. Stork and B.Bolton. 2002. The diversity and abundance of ants in relation to forest disturbance and plantation establishment in southern Cameroon. Journal of Applied Ecology 39(1):18-30.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 39-269.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004
 * 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