Polyrhachis lacteipennis

Identification
Workers of Polyrhachis lacteipennis vary from 4.5-7.0 mm in body length. They are black in colour with the head and thorax finely punctured and granulate. Pubescence is almost entirely absent except for a few scattered erect hairs on the front of the head and on the apical segments of the gaster. Head is broadly oval; clypeus has a distinct medial vertical carina and is briefly lobed; antennal carinae wide apart and not divergent. They have three pairs of spines: pronotal spines are very short, thick and directed obliquely outwards; propodeal (or metanotal) spines are erect and divergent with the tip slightly bent outwards; two large petiolar spines curved to the shape of the gaster on the upper lateral angles with two obtuse or very small teeth between them. Gaster is short, opaque and globose (modified from Bingham 1903).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: United Arab Emirates. Oriental Region: India, Nepal. Palaearctic Region: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Turkmenistan.

Biology
These ants construct carton nests at the base of trees, by cementing twigs with their salivary exudates. They are one of the most commonly encountered ants in the urban regions of South India (Narendra & Kumar 2006).



Nomenclature

 *  lacteipennis. Polyrhachis lacteipennis Smith, F. 1858b: 60, pl. 4, fig. 40 (q.) INDIA. Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 195. Senior synonym of simplex (and its junior synonym spiniger): Bolton, 1974b: 177. Current subspecies: nominal plus obsoleta.
 * simplex. Polyrhachis simplex Mayr, 1862: 682 (q.) INDIA. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1970: 649 (l.); Imai, Baroni Urbani, et al. 1984: 9 (k.). Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 196. Junior synonym of lacteipennis: Bolton, 1974b: 177. See also: Bingham, 1903: 394; Ofer, 1970: 49.

Additional References

 * Narendra, A & Kumar, SM. 2006. On A Trail With Ants: A Handbook of the Ants of Peninsular India. Tholasi Prints, 137 pp.