Bothroponera wasmannii

Pachycondyla wasmannii is an endemic, widespread species of the Malagasy region. It occurs generally in western Madagascar and in Anjouan of the Comoros Islands. Most frequently this species has been collected from the dry forests and woodland habitats in the west of Madagascar. However, it is known also from subhumid gallery forests in the western slopes, littoral, transitional, and humid forests in the north and southeast of the island, and from disjunct montane rainforests on the high plateau. This species is also capable of colonizing human-modified habitats. There are two morphological forms; the first occurs in the dry and gallery forest habitats in the west of Madagascar, whereas the second is generally known from the transitional mesic forests and some of the rainforest sites in the north and northeast of the island. Across its distribution range, P. wasmannii dominates the Pachycondyla in dry forest habitats where it is sympatric only with Pachycondyla vazimba. In its remaining distribution range, other species within the genus co-occur with P. wasmannii, and Pachycondyla cambouei, which is widely distributed throughout the humid forests, becomes the dominant species. Pachycondyla wasmannii nests mainly in rotten logs; however, it can also be found on rotten sticks and branches on the ground, in soil layers, under rocks, beneath litter moss on rocks, and under rotten logs. It typically forages on the forest floor and through leaf litter, and very rarely on low-growing vegetation. Workers of this species usually fake death (thanatosis) after a nest disturbance.

One interesting geographic point about P. wasmannii is its presence on Anjouan Island in the Comoros but not Mayotte Island, although the latter is geographically closer to Madagascar. How it arrived on Comoros could shed light on our understanding of the historical biogeography and the origins of the Malagasy species of Pachycondyla. (Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2013)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Comoros. Malagasy Region: Madagascar.

Nomenclature

 *  wasmannii. Bothroponera wasmannii Forel, 1887: 383 (w.) MADAGASCAR. Forel, 1897c: 196 (q.m.). Combination in Pachycondyla (Bothroponera): Emery, 1901a: 45.

Additional References

 * Rakotonirina, J.C. & Fisher, B.L. 2013. Revision of the Pachycondyla wasmannii-group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Malagasy region. Zootaxa 3609, 101-141.
 * Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa. 3817, 1–242 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1)