Mesoponera subiridescens

Mesoponera subiridescens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Mesoponera
Species:	M. subiridescens
Binomial name
Mesoponera subiridescens (Wheeler, W.M., 1922) Specimen labels

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Afrotropical Mesoponera

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 3.383333333° to -20.45°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Cameroun, Democratic Republic of Congo (type locality), Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Castes

• Images provided by Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology
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Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• subiridescens. Euponera (Mesoponera) subiridescens Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 83, fig. 15 (w.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
  • Type-material: 6 syntype workers.
  • Type-locality: 4 workers Democratic Republic of Congo (“Belgian Congo”): Akenge, stomach of Bufo polycercus (Lang & Chapin); other syntypes: 1 worker Medje, stomach of Bufo superciliaris (Lang & Chapin), 1 worker Ngayu, stomach of Bufo tuberosus (Lang & Chapin).
  • Type-depository: MCZC.
  • [Misspelled as subiridens by Santschi, 1939b: 237.]
  • Combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 310;
  • combination in Mesoponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 111.
  • Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 777; Santschi, 1935b: 260 (in key); Santschi, 1939b: 237; Menozzi, 1942: 166; Weber, 1943c: 299; Eidmann, 1944: 434; Bolton, 1995b: 310; Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 221.
  • Distribution: Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe.

References

• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1995a. [Untitled. Taxonomic changes in Pachycondyla attributed to Brown.] Pp. 302-311 in: Bolton, B. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 310, Combination in Pachycondyla: new combination)
• Esteves, F.A., Fisher, B.L. 2021. Corrieopone nouragues gen. nov., sp. nov., a new Ponerinae from French Guiana (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1074, 83–173 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1074.75551).
• Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa 3817, 1–242 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1).
• Wheeler, W. M. 1922b. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 45: 39-269 (page 83, fig. 15 worker described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Eidmann H. 1944. Die Ameisenfauna von Fernando Poo. 27. Beitrag zu den Ergebnissen der Westafrika-Expedition. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Ökol. Geogr. Tiere 76: 413-490.
• IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
• Menozzi C. 1942. Formiche dell'isola Fernando Poo e del territorio del Rio Muni (Guinea Spagnola). 24. Beitrag zu den wissenschaftlichen Ergebnissen der Forschungsreise H. Eidmann nach Spanisch-Guinea 1939 bis 1940. Zoologischer Anzeiger 140: 164-182.
• Nsengimana V., K. A. Beth, F. Frederic, K. M. M. Lombart, D. Wouter, and N. Donat. 2018. Use of soil and litter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as biological indicators of soil quality under different land uses in Southern Rwanda. Environmental Entomology 47(6): 1394-1401.
• Ross S. R. P. J., F. Hita Garcia, G. Fischer, and M. K. Peters. 2018. Selective logging intensity in an East African rain forest predicts reductions in ant diversity. Biotropica 1-11.
• Weber N. A. 1943. The ants of the Imatong Mountains, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 93: 263-389.
• Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 39-269.
• Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004
• Yamagiwa J., N. Mwanza, T. Yumoto, and T. Maruhasi. 1991. Ant eating by Eastern lowland Gorilla. Primates 32(2): 247-253.