Plectroctena minor

Plectroctena minor is a semi-specialist predator on millipedes. Workers will always select millipedes, their essential prey, while alternative prey acceptance varies according to the taxa and the situation (Schatz et al., 2001).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Angola, Cameroun, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo.

Biology
Schatz et al (2001): Prey selection by Plectroctena minor workers is two-fold. During cafeteria experiments, the workers always selected millipedes, their essential prey, while alternative prey acceptance varied according to the taxa and the situation. Millipedes were seized by the anterior part of their body, stung, and retrieved by single workers that transported them between their legs. They were rarely snapped at, and never abandoned. When P. minor workers were confronted with alternative prey they behaved like generalist species: prey acceptance was inversely correlated to prey size. This was not the case vis-à-vis millipedes that they selected and captured although larger than compared alternative prey. The semi-specialised diet of P. minor permits the colonies to be easily provisioned by a few foraging workers as millipedes are rarely hunted by other predatory arthropods, while alternative prey abound, resulting in low competition pressure in both cases. Different traits characteristic of an adaptation to hunting millipedes were noted and compared with the capture of alternative prey. We also noted the parsimony of the behavioural phases during their capture compared to the capture of alternative prey.

Nomenclature

 *  minor. Plectroctena minor Emery, 1892d: 556, pl. 15, figs. 1, 2 (q.) IVORY COAST. Emery, 1902c: 32 (w.); Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 88 (m.). Senior synonym of insularis, liberiana, perusta: Bolton, 1974c: 324; of gabonensis: Bolton & Brown, 2002: 12.
 * gabonensis. Plectroctena gabonensis Santschi, 1919a: 336 (w.) GABON. [Also described as new by Santschi, 1919h: 90.] Bolton, 1974c: 323 (q.). Combination in Myopias: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 785; in Plectroctena: Santschi, 1924a: 170. Subspecies of subterranea: Santschi, 1919h: 90. Revived status as species: Santschi, 1924a: 170; Bolton, 1974c: 323. Junior synonym of minor: Bolton & Brown, 2002: 12.
 * insularis. Plectroctena minor var. insularis Santschi, 1924a: 169, fig. 3 (w.) EQUATORIAL GUINEA (Bioko I.). Junior synonym of minor: Bolton, 1974c: 324.
 * liberiana. Plectroctena minor var. liberiana Santschi, 1924a: 169, fig. 2 (w.) LIBERIA. Junior synonym of minor: Bolton, 1974c: 324.
 * perusta. Plectroctena minor var. perusta Santschi, 1924a: 168, fig. 2 (w.) CAMEROUN. Junior synonym of minor: Bolton, 1974c: 324.