Plagiolepis squamulosa

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Nomenclature

 *  squamulosa. Plagiolepis squamulosa Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 156 (w.) AUSTRALIA.

Worker
Length 1.5-2.5 mm.

Head subrectangular, slightly longer than broad, slightly narrower in front than behind, with sinuous posterior border and nearly straight sides. Eyes rather large, feebly convex, placed distinctly nearer the posterior than the anterior corners. Mandibles rather stout. convex, 6-toothed, the apical tooth long, the others small and subequal. Clypeus large, convex but not carinate in the middle, the anterior border advanced, rounded and entire. Frontal area distinct, rather large, triangular, as broad as long; frontal groove distinct, impressed, extending back to the anterior ocellus. Antennae slender; scapes reaching fully one-fourth their length beyond the posterior border of the head; funiculi only feebly enlarged at the tip; first joint two and one half times as long as broad, nearly as long as joints 2 to 4 together, joint 2 small, as long as broad, 3 distinctly shorter, 4 to 9 about one and one-half times as long as broad, the terminal joint longer than the two preceding together. Thorax somewhat more than twice as long as broad, broadest through the pronotum, which is less than twice as broad as long, its sides convex and bluntly angular; mesonotum subrectangular, a little broader than long; mesometanotal suture obsolete; metanotum very short, its spiracles small, not strongly projecting, fully four times as far apart as their diameter; metaepinotal surture distinct; epinotum broader than long, subrectangular, scarcely narrower in front than behind. In profile the mesonotum and posterior portion of the pronotum are nearly straight and horizontal above, the anterior portion of the pro no tum steep, the impression at the metanotum feeble, the epinotum with very short, nearly horizontal base, passing gradually into the declivity, which is five times as long as the base, and very sloping, straight anteriorly and distinctly concave posteriorly. Petiole small; its scale low, strongly inclined forward, rather thin, with sharp, broadly rounded superior border. Gaster oval, voluminous, with pointed tip; first segment large, overlying the petiole. Legs slender.

Subopaque and lustrous; mandibles very finely striated and coarsely punctate; head, thorax and gaster sharply, regularly and microscopically reticulate, the surface appearing finely squamulate, especially on the gaster where the reticulations are transverse; appendages with similar but even finer sculpture.

Pilosity and pubescence pale, whitish; the former very sparse, erect, present only on the mandibles, clypeus and gaster; the pubescence very fine, short and appressed, rather dense on the head, thoracic dorsum and appendages, sparser on the gaster.

Dark brown; head darker than the thorax which is a shade darker than the gaster; mandibles, sides of clypeus, scapes, first funicular joint, trochanters, knees and tarsi brownish yellow.

Type Material
Described from nine specimens which I found under a stone at the foot of the huge sand dunes south of Geraldton, Western Australia (X 8, '31). Two of the specimens are honey-storing repletes, with the gaster greatly distended.