Polyrhachis phidias

The habits of the species are probably similar to those of fissa or decemdentata and its range probably covers the same area as these two species, that is, the forest zones of West and Central Africa. (Bolton 1973)

Identification
Rigato (2016) - A small militaris group species with trapezoidal head, the lateral pair of petiolar spines a little longer than the dorsal pair, and scape devoid of standing hairs.

Bolton (1973) - P. phidias is most closely related to Polyrhachis fissa and its immediate allies as is shown by the petiolar structure and the development of the pronotal spines. It differs from them in details of sculpturation and petiolar structure.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, United Republic of Tanzania.

Nomenclature

 *  phidias. Polyrhachis phidias Forel, 1910e: 450 (w.) "Equatorial Africa". Combination in P. (Myrma): Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 999. See also: Bolton, 1973b: 316.

Worker
Bolton (1973) - TL 4.9-5.1, HL 1.18-1.26, HW 1.03-1.08, CI 85-87, SL 1.18-1.26, SI 114-116, PW 1.08-1.13, MTL 1.16-1.21. (2 measured.)

Anterior clypeal margin entire, somewhat flattened medially. Sides of head in front of the strongly convex eyes shallowly convex. Behind the eyes the sides are nearly straight and meet the convex occipital margin almost in a right-angle. Alitrunk marginate laterally throughout its length, the marginations broken only at the sutures. Constituent segments of the dorsum of the alitrunk shallowly transversely convex. Pronotum armed with a pair of broad, flattened, triangular spines, the outer edges of which form a continuous convexity with the lateral marginations. Sutures well developed on the dorsum, the metanotal groove impressed. Propodeum armed with a pair of small, blunt, upturned teeth. Petiole with a pair of long, acute, lateral spines and a pair of short, triangular, dorsal teeth. Anterior face of first gastral segment strongly concave medially.

Erect hairs present on all dorsal surfaces of the body, but absent from the antennal scapes. Pubescence short and grey in colour.

Head and dorsum of alitrunk finely longitudinally striate-rugose. The first gastral segment similarly but more finely sculptured and with numerous small punctures between the rugae.

Rigato (2016) - (n=20). HL 1.13–1.30, HW 0.97–1.13, CI 83–91, SL 1.15–1.28, SI 109–119, FW 0.42–0.47, FI 40–44, PW 1.08–1.24, WL 1.37–1.66, HTL 1.11–1.30.

Queen
Rigato (2016) - (n=6). HL 1.30–1.40, HW 1.15–1.20, CI 83–89, SL 1.27–1.35, SI 110–117, FW 0.46–0.52, FI 40–44, ScW 1.30–1.37, MnL 1.57–1.70, WL 2.13–2.21, HTL 1.32–1.50.

Type Material
Bolton (1973) - Syntype workers, Equatorial Africa (locality unknown) [examined]. In the original description Forel stated that the locality in which the type series was captured was unknown, although “certainly in Equatorial Africa”. This last information is also included upon the data labels of the type specimens.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bolton B. 1973. The ant genus Polyrhachis F. Smith in the Ethiopian region (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 28: 283-369.
 * Rigato F. 2016. The ant genus Polyrhachis F. Smith in sub-Saharan Africa, with descriptions of ten new species. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 4088: 1-50.
 * Taylor B. 1978. Ants of the Nigerian Forest Zone (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). II. Formicinae, Dolichoderinae. Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria Research Bulletin 5: 1-57.
 * 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