Polyrhachis cornata, Crawley W. C., 1915

Crawley W. C., 1915, Ants from north and south-west Australia (G. F. Hill, Rowland Turner) and Christmas Island, Straits Settlements. Part 2, Ann. Mag Natur. Hist. 15, pp. 232-239 : 237-238

No. 85. Polyrhachis cornata , sp. n., group guerini .

☿. - L. 5 mm.

Mandibles shining, densely striate (more coarsely than in guerini ), with 4 (? 5) teeth. Clypeus subcarinate, the anterior margin produced in a short lobe (shorter and broader than in guerini ), with a concave border and five small teeth. Frontal carinæ short, wider apart than the distance from each to the sides of the head, fairly divergent, and reaching the anterior margin of the eyes. The latter are placed near the posterior border of head and are not very prominent. Head slightly longer than broad, broader behind than in front, slightly convex behind, sides convex. Pronotum broader in front, the sides rectilineal and bordered; the teeth at the anterior angles of medium length, about twice as long as their width at base. Pro-mesonotal suture distinct, meso-epinotal less so. Epinotum with two spines as long as the width between them; declivous longer than basal surface. Pedicel with long curved spines, like buffalo’s horns, thick at base, encircling the first segment of gaster. The first segment of the latter more than twice as long as the rest of the gaster, the whole rounded, about as broad as long.

Head finely reticulate, the sculpture almost concealed by the pubescence; opaque (shining and striate in guerini ). Scapes finely reticulate. Thorax and pedicel (except the apical half of all the spines) coarsely reticulate-rugose, shining between the reticulations. On the lower half of the back of pedicel, between the spines, the rugosities take a transverse direction. Legs finely reticulate. Gaster very finely reticulate-punctate, the sculpture almost hidden by the pubescence. Erect hairs on head yellowish, on pro- and epinotuin darker, on gaster golden. Pubescence on head very thick, silvergrey. Of the thorax, the epinotum only is pubescent, similarly to the head. On the gaster the pubescence is pale golden, merging into grey underneath. The femora and tibiae have a slight silvery pubescence.

Stapleton, N.T., 22. xii. 12 (Hill), ☿.