Prionopelta majuscula

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Indonesia, New Guinea , Solomon Islands.

Nomenclature

 * simillima. Ponera simillima Smith, F. 1860b: 105 (q.) NEW GUINEA. [Junior primary homonym of simillima Smith, F. 1860b: 104.] Replacement name: poultoni Donisthorpe, 1932c: 462. Combination in Rhopalopone: Emery, 1900c: 311 (footnote).
 *  majuscula. Prionopelta majuscula Emery, 1897c: 595 (w.q.) NEW GUINEA. Senior synonym of churchilli: Brown, 1951: 102; of poultoni, testacea: Brown, 1953c: 12. See also: Shattuck, 2008b: 27.
 * poultoni. Prionopelta poultoni Donisthorpe, 1932c: 462. Replacement name for Ponera simillima Smith, F. 1860b: 105. [Junior primary homonym of Ponera simillima Smith, F. 1860b: 104.] Junior synonym of majuscula: Brown, 1953c: 12.
 * testacea. Renea testacea Donisthorpe, 1947d: 183, fig. 1 (w.m.) NEW GUINEA. Donisthorpe, 1948d: 590 (q.). Junior synonym of majuscula: Brown, 1953c: 12.
 * churchilli. Examblyopone churchilli Donisthorpe, 1949g: 401 (q.) NEW GUINEA. Junior synonym of majuscula: Brown, 1951: 102.

Type Material


Ponera simillima

In the original description Smith states that the type-specimens are workers, but only queens of this taxon are present in his collection. It is assumed here that he miswrote the caste in the description, though this can not be proved; the four queens of the species are regarded here as the syntypes, though perhaps incorrectly.

One dealate queen syntype in. Labelled “Dor. 20” (= Dory I., New Guinea).

Three dealate queen syntypes in. Labelled “Dor.” One specimen has a Donisthorpe type-label and a det. label “P. poultoni,” Donisthorpe’s replacement name for the preoccupied simillima. One of the others has a Donisthorpe det. label from 1931, “simillima.”