Carebara diversa philippina

Identification
Wheeler (1929) - The subsp. philippinus is most closely related to Santschi's subsp. draco, but the soldier of the latter has a larger and much smoother head, a strongly emarginate petiolar node and the male is larger, darker and much like the male of the typical diversus. My male specimen of draco from Hainan (S. F. Light) measures 12 mm. and is black, with broad yellowish posterior borders to the gastric segments, dark brown scapes and yellow funiculi and legs. The wings are paler than in philippinus and the head intermediate in form between this subspecies and the typical diversus.

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

Nomenclature

 *  philippina. Pheidologeton diversus subsp. philippinus Wheeler, W.M. 1929g: 46 (s.w.q.m.) PHILIPPINES. Combination in Carebara: Fischer, Azorsa & Fisher, 2014: 71.

Worker
Soldier (ocellate). Length 9-11 mm.

Head distinctly broader than long, in the largest specimens 4.3 x 4 mm., with straight, parallel sides and deeply excised posterior border. Anterior clypeal border broadly sinuate in the middle. Scutellum very protuberant. Epinotal spines stout, somewhat curved downward at their tips. Superior border of petiolar node feebly emarginate in the middle. Postpetiole with its sides produced as short but distinct conules.

Shining; posterior portion of head subopaque; dorsal surface rugose, except three very smooth areas, one on the vertex, covering the frontal groove and one on each side of the front. These spots have a few coarse punctures posteriorly. The rugae on the anterior two-thirds of the head both above and on the sides and gula, are rather fine and sharp; those passing backward between the lateral and central smooth areas on each side curve outward and join the transverse rugae of the vertex, which are sharp and somewhat diverging, and become finer, more numerous and more concentric on each of the occipital lobes and in part curve laterally into the longitudinal rugae of the sides of the head. There are several coarse punctures or foveolae interspersed among these finer rugae on the occipital lobes. Thorax transversely rugose, except the mesonotum and scutellum which are smooth and shining. Pedicel sub opaque, rugulose-punctate, except the postpetiolar node, which is smooth and shining. Gaster very smooth and shining, its punctures extremely fine and superficial.

Hairs yellow, erect and not very abundant, sparse and appressed on the gaster; sparse and oblique on the legs and scapes, the latter also with rather long pubcscence.

Deep brownish ferruginous; head and pedicel paler and more reddish in some specimens; gaster often blackish. Borders of clypeus and mandibles black, centers of the latter deep red. Legs and antennae a little paler and more reddish than the body.

Large and small media Length 3.5-8 mm.

The largest specimens closely resemble the soldier but lack the ocellus; in smaller specimens the smooth areas on the front become larger and confluent, till in the smallest the median third or more of the upper surface is very smooth and shining, while the rugae on the vertex become feebler and less numerous and the color becomes paler and more reddish. Meso-, metathorax, pedicel and legs take on a yellowish red tint, with the epinotal spines and upper surfaces of the nodes brown.

Minima Length 2-2.3 mm.

Smaller and distinctly paler than the corresponding caste of the typical diversus. Head and scapes dark brown, remainder of body and the appendages paler, sordid brown, the middle portions of the femora, tibire and gaster somewhat darker in some specimens; funiculi and tarsi whitish yellow.

Queen
Length 15-16 mm.; fore wings 15 mm.

Much more slender than the female of the typical diversus, the subsp. fictus Forel, draco Santschi and var. laotima Santschi. Head distinctly broader than long (3.3 mm. x 3 mm.), narrower in front than behind, with broadly excised posterior border. Eyes and ocelli small compared with typical diversus. Scapes reaching nearly to the eyes. Mandibles more convex than in diversus, thorax decidedly narrower (only 3 mm. broad, in diversus 4 mm.), the mesonotum longer, the epinotum with acute, triangular teeth, as long as broad at the base. Superior border of petiole entitre; the ventral border without a median dependent lamina; postpetiole with more rounded anterior angles than in diversus; gaster longer and narrower.

Head rather opaque; strongly rugose throughout, the interrugal spaces reticulate; the rugae longitudinal anteriorly, diverging on the front, transverse, somewhat coarser and mo.re reticulate on the vertex. Mandibles, thorax and gaster shining. Pronotum and epinotum transversely rugose, the lateral corners of the former, the mesonotum, mesopleurae and scutellum sharply punctate, with intermingled large and small punctures; mesosterna and sides of epinotum coarsely longitudinally rugose. Petiole and postpetiole subopaque, punctate-rugulose, posterior surface of petiolar node transversely rugose; dorsal surface of postpetiole shining and coarsely punctate. Gaster with very fine and numerous punctures, interspersed with coarser piligerous punctures. Legs and scapes rather coarsely and sparsely punctate.

Pilosity golden yellow, erect, moderately abundant, uneven and rather short; longer on the gaster; bristly and somewhat sparser on the legs and scapes.

Black; antennae and legs red; gastric segments with rufous borders. Wings deeply infuscated, darker than in the typical diversus.

Male
Length 9-10 mm; fore wings 9 mm.

Smaller than the male of the typical diversus, which measures 11-13 mm.; and of a different color, being reddish or yellowish brown instead of dark brown. Head and three large elongate spots on the mesonotum, one anterior and median, the others covering the parapsidal furrows, dark brown or blackish. In some specimens these spots are sharply defined, in others they tend to fuse so that much of the mesonotum becomes dark brown. Legs, antennae and genitalia brownish yellow. Wings as dark as those of the female, their membranes uniformly and not unevenly tinted as in diversus.

Occipital portion of head shorter and less developed than in diversus, with the ocelli on an eminence; cheeks much shorter; mandibles with four well-developed teeth. Epinotum sloping and rounded, not clearly angular on the sides; base short and not distinctly marked off from the declivity. Pilosity much as in the typical diversus.

Type Material
I base the subspecies on a long series of all the phases taken by Dr. F. X. Williams at Los Banos. There are also series of soldiers, large and small workers taken by Dr. R. C. McGregor at San Juan del Monte, near Manila, Luzon 1, from Paete, Laguna and Banqni, on the same island, from gebu, on Cebu Island (F. X. Williams) and Dumaguete, Negros Oriental (J. W. Chapman), and a couple of small and very yellow males taken by Prof. C F. Baker on Mt Banahao, Luzon.