Terataner foreli

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Malagasy Region: Madagascar.

Castes
Ergatoid queen described by Alpert (1992).

No alate or dealate queens occur in any of the Malagasy Terataner species. Colonies are almost always monogynous with a single reproductive, an ergatoid queen, that differs only slightly from corresponding workers. This reproductive lacks both wings and ocelli, and has an almost normal, worker-like thorax. The ergatoid queen is externally distinguishable from workers only by very subtle characters (e.g., small spines or tubercles below the mesonotal groove; a unique pattern of rugae on the sides of the pronotum) that vary among species. Ergatoid queens have ovaries bearing two to three ovarioles.

Nomenclature

 * . Atopomyrmex foreli Emery, 1899f: 274, figs. (w.m.) MADAGASCAR.
 * Type-material: syntype workers, syntype putative males (numbers not stated).
 * Type-locality: Madagascar: Baia di Antongil, 1897-98 (A. Mocquerys).
 * Type-depository: MSNG.
 * Combination in Terataner: Emery, 1912b: 103.
 * Status as species: Emery, 1899f: 274; Emery, 1912b: 103; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 1029; Emery, 1924d: 242; Bolton, 1981b: 296; Alpert, 1992: 119; Bolton, 1995b: 403; Hita Garcia, Fischer, et al. 2017a: 11 (in key).
 * Distribution: Madagascar.

Type Material
Bolton (1981) - Syntype workers, Madagascar: Baia di Antongil, 1897-98 (A. Mocquerys) [examined].

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Alpert G. D. 1992. Observations on the genus Terataner in Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche (Cambridge) 99: 117-127.
 * Emery C. 1912. Études sur les Myrmicinae. [I-IV.]. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 56: 94-105.
 * Fisher B. L. 1997. Biogeography and ecology of the ant fauna of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 31: 269-302.
 * Fisher B. L. 2003. Formicidae, ants. Pp. 811-819 in: Goodman, S. M.; Benstead, J. P. (eds.) 2003. The natural history of Madagascar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, xxi + 1709 pp.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. IX. A synonymic list of the ants of the Malagasy region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 1005-1055