Tetramorium weitzeckeri

Identification


Allied to Tetramorium occidentale, Santschi, but differing by the length of the antennal joints, by the sculptured head and thorax and mandibles. The nodes of the petiole are thinner, i.e. much more compressed from front to back than in Tetramorium humbloti Forel. Durban. A small nest under a stone.

Distribution
This taxon was described from South Africa. It is also found in Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Swaziland.

Nomenclature

 *  weitzeckeri. Tetramorium (Xiphomyrmex) weitzeckeri Emery, 1895h: 39 (w.) SOUTH AFRICA. Arnold, 1917: 346 (q.). Combination in Xiphomyrmex: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 908; in Tetramorium: Bolton, 1980: 233. Senior synonym of ebeninum, edithae, escherichi, nigellus: Bolton, 1980: 233. See also: Hita Garcia, Fischer & Peters, 2010b: 85.
 * escherichi. Tetramorium (Xiphomyrmex) escherichi Forel, 1910c: 259 (w.q.) ETHIOPIA. Combination in Xiphomyrmex: Emery, 1915g: 4. Junior synonym of weitzeckeri: Bolton, 1980: 233.
 * ebeninum. Tetramorium (Xiphomyrmex) ebeninum Arnold, 1926: 277, fig. 80 (w.) SOUTH AFRICA. Junior synonym of weitzeckeri: Bolton, 1980: 233.
 * nigellus. Xiphomyrmex weitzeckeri var. nigellus Santschi, 1932a: 389 (w.q.) ZIMBABWE. Junior synonym of weitzeckeri: Bolton, 1980: 233.
 * edithae. Xiphomyrmex weitzeckeri subsp. edithae Weber, 1943c: 375 (w.) SUDAN. Junior synonym of weitzeckeri: Bolton, 233.

Description
Jet-black; legs, antennae and mandibles dark piceous brown, the apical half of the last antennal joint and the last four joints of the tarsi, testaceous. Head and thorax moderately shining, the former longitudinally and coarsely striato-rugose, the sides of the head and thorax more closely sculptured and with transverse striae in addition, the demiscrobe almost smooth over its posterior two-thirds. Petiole, legs and abdomen smooth and very shining. Mandibles closely striate, with a row of large punctures behind the masticatory margin. Clypeus with a strong median carina. Legs and antennae with a sparse, long and yellowish pubescence; head and thorax with a scanty, outstanding and pale pilosity. Head subrectangular, about one-fifth longer than wide, (excluding the mandibles), the sides in front of the eyes parallel, behind them somewhat convex, the posterior angles rounded, the posterior margin moderately concave. The eyes are very prominent and convex, placed in the middle of the sides. Second and 3rd joints of the flagellum a little wider than long, the 4th and 5th as wide as long, the rest longer than wide. The frontal carinae, which extend back to the posterior margin of the head, are moderately divergent backwards, and form the upper boundary of the distinct demi-scrobes; the scapes do not quite reach the posterior margin. Anterior margin of clypeus feebly impressed in the middle. Anterior margin of the pronotum arcuate, the shoulders subangular. Thoracic sutures obsolete above, the dorsu of the epinotum separated from the mesonotum by a raised and sharp line. The dorsum of the epinotum is about as long as wide, slightly hollowed out; the epinotal spines long and acute, strongly divergent, almost twice as long as they are wide at the base, uite twice as long as the space between their bases; episternal teeth triangular, acute, one-third as long as the epinotal; the declivity smooth and shining. Node of the 1st joint of the petiole squamiform, higher than its peduncle is long, and higher than the 2nd node. Its anterior face is convex from side to side, the posterior face flat, its dorsal edge convex transversely and moderately rounded from front to back. The 2nd node two and a third times wider than long, one-third wider than the 1st, its upper half compressed from front to back, (more so at the sides than in the middle), the anterior face vertical, a little wider in front than behind. Abdomen oval.