Odontomachus banksi

Found only in dipterocarp forests, sometimes degraded, on mountain slopes.

Identification
Sorger & Zettel (2011) - Odontomachus banksi is the most distinct Philippine member of the O. infandus group species. It can be distinguished from all other species by the relatively long and dense pilosity of the mesosoma and by striation on the etiole. The smooth and shiny posterior of the head is also the Western Visayas, Odontomachus scifictus on Camiguin, and O. sp. 2 on Mindanao. They have brown heads and a smooth area on the mesopleuron, whereas the head of O. banksi is yellowish orange and its mesopleuron densely and fully striate. A population of Odontomachus alius from Catanduanes resembles O. banksi in light and (partly) smooth head, but differs in sparse pilosity of mesosoma, fine striation of mesopleuron, distinctly curved petiolar spine (straight in O. banksi), and brownish gaster (blackish in O. banksi).

Distribution
Endemic to the Philippines and present only in the central and southern parts of Luzon; records from Laguna, Quezon (Brown 1976), Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Philippines.

Nomenclature

 *  banksi. Odontomachus banksi Forel, 1910d: 121 (w.) PHILIPPINES. Viehmeyer, 1916b: 284 (q.). See also: Brown, 1976a: 125; Sorger & Zettel, 2011: 154.

Worker
Sorger & Zettel (2011) - Lectotype: CI 77, 2.80 HW, 3.65 HL, 56 MdI, 2.05 MdL, 4.95 MsL, 1.60 PnW, 1.47 PtH, 1.63 PtL, 0.58 PtW, 132 SI, 3.70 SL, 16 TL worker with smallest HW: CI 67, HL 2.90, HW 1.95, MdI 56, MdL 1.63, MsL 4.13, PnW 1.13, PtH 1.02, PtL 1.16, PtW 0.40, SI 157, SL 3.07, TL 12.38; worker with largest HW: CI 74, HL 3.70, HW 2.73, MdI 55, MdL 2.05, MsL 5.33, SI 138, SL 3.77, PnW 1.59, PtH 1.58, PtL 1.68, PtW 0.58, TL 15.75.

Structures: Striation on head extending from frontal lobes to ocular ridge, rest of head smooth and shiny. Pronotum with round to transverse striation, closed loops and circles may be visible in dorsal view. Mesopleuron with fine transverse striation. Petiole with some fine striation laterally and with long and acute petiolar spine; anterior face of node straight to almost concave.

Pilosity: Pubescence dense, long.

Colour: Bicoloured; head light brown contrasting with reddish brown mesosoma and petiole, dark brown gaster.

Type Material
Sorger & Zettel (2011) - Lectotype (worker; ; present designation) and paralectotypes (2 workers; MHNG), mounted on one pin, from Laguna Province (according to Forel 1910).

There is a discrepancy since the types are workers, but Forel (1910) describes gynes ("♀"). However, we believe that this is due to a typesetting error, as the characters “Mésonotum fortement et largement échancré” [translated: Mesonotum strongly and broadly indented] and “les stries ... du pronotum fines et serrés, parfois longitudinales au milieu” [translated: striae...on pronotum fine and tight together, sometimes longitudinal in the middle] must refer to workers. We select the uppermost worker as the lectotype.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * CSIRO Collection
 * Samson D.A., E.A. Rickart, and P.C. Gonzales. 1997. Ant diversity and abundance along an elevational gradient in the Philippines. Biotropica 29(3): 349-363.
 * Sorger, D.M. and H. Zettel. 2011. On the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Philippine Islands: V. The genus Odontomachus LATREILLE, 1804. Myrmecological News. 14:141-163.
 * Viehmeyer H. 1916. Ameisen von den Philippinen und anderer Herkunft (Hym.). Entomologische Mitteilungen. Berlin-Dahlem 5: 283-291.