Bothroponera berthoudi (Forel)

Ama JOma & Wp MacKay, 2015, Revision of the African Ants of the Bothroponera pumicosa Species Complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae), Sociobiology 62 (4), pp. 538-563 : 545-547

Bothroponera berthoudi (Forel)

Figures 6, 7 and Plate 2 ; Map 3 The sculpturing of the head is shown only on the right or left side, to allow the illustration of the hairs on the other side of the head.

Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) berthoudi Forel, 1901: 344 (w), South Africa, Valdezia, Transvaal; Emery, 1911: 76; Forel, 1913a: 306 (m), Willwomore, colonie du Cap; Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) pumicosa berthoudi: Forel, 1913b: 109 (w), Willowmore [Willwomore], Cap; Bothroponera pumicosa race berthoudi: Arnold, 1952: 460 , considered berthoudi to be a junior synonym of strigulosa ; Pachycondyla berthoudi: Brown in Bolton, 1995: 303; Bothroponera berthoudi: Joma and Mackay, 2013: 3 .

Bothroponera variolosa Arnold, 1947: 131 (w), South Africa, Mariepskop, Transvaal; Bothroponera cariosa variolosa: Arnold, 1960: 452 ; Bothroponera variolosa: Joma and Mackay, 2013: 3 ; Schmidt and Shattuck, 2014: 77; Pachycondyla variolosa: Brown , in Bolton, 1995: 311 (syn. nov.).

Diagnosis: The worker of Bothroponera berthoudi is a relatively large ant (total length 9.60 – 12.00 mm). The mandibles are hairy and coarsely covered with punctures. The anterior medial margin of the clypeus is “u” shaped and slightly bent ventrally, with the disc has a raised smooth area with striae. The upper part of the raised area, between the frontal lobes is rough with a few punctulae, and with a small clypeal carinae. The clypeal wings are punctulate and obliquely striate. The scape barely reaches the posterior lateral corner of the head.

Worker Description: (n=8 for measurements), HL 2.00 - 2.61, HW 1.75 - 2.25, ML 1.15 - 1.45, EW 0.30 - 0.35, EL 0.30 - 0.45, SL 1.40 - 1.85, FL 2.10 - 2.60, WL 2.75 - 3.85, WPL 3.60 - 4.90, PL 0.90 - 1.30, PW 0.95 - 1.35, PH 1.30 - 1.60, CI 86.20 - 87.50, OI 17.14 - 20.00, MandI 57.50 - 55.56, SI 80.00 - 82.22, PetI 103.84 - 105.56. Mandibles smooth with about 7 teeth; head subquadrate; maximum transversal clypeal length 1.60 mm; compound eyes relatively large; length of malar space 0.40 mm; length from upper edge of eye to edge of posterior lobe 1.00 mm; maximum frontal lobes width 0.75 mm; surface of head, pronotum, mesonotum, mesopleuron, propodeum, lateropropodeum, metapleuron, densely foveolate, moderately shiny; petiolar and postpetiolar surfaces densely covered with larger foveolae than those of mesosoma, moderately shiny; cheek, sides of head, area posterior to eyes, frons covered with weakly defined striae; dorsum of fourth abdominal segment covered with shallow foveolae and striae; fifthseventh abdominal segments smooth, shiny; basalar sclerite oval in depressed surrounding area; pronotal shoulder rounded, lower margin straight (lateral view), anteroinferior pronotal process angled, inferior pronotal process rounded; mesometapleural suture developed; mesopleural-coxal excavation developed and continued with mesometapleural suture; antennae, legs, lower edges of frontal lobes, mandibles shiny; anterior face of petiolar node from dorsal view rounded, slightly narrowed anteriorly, posterior face vertical in side view, slightly concave with slight depression on medial upper margin; metapleuron rough, covered with striae, foveolae; posteropropodeum rough, slightly concave; dorsum of postpetiole densely covered with large foveolae and striae; surface of 4th abdominal segment rough, covered with large foveolae; 5th to 7th abdominal segments moderately shiny, covered with fine striae; head, dorsum of pronotum, mesonotum, propodeum covered with fine moderately long golden erect hairs; hairs moderately long (0.12 mm up to 0.25 mm) hairs on mandibles, legs, scapes; length of hairs on pronotum, mesonotum, propodeum slightly longer (0.20 - 0.25 mm); dorsum of petiole, dorsal and ventral surfaces of postpetiole, and 4th to 7th abdominal segments covered with longer erect golden hairs (0.30 - 0.35 mm); head, pronotum, mesonotum, mesopleuron, propodeum, petiole, postpetiole, entire gaster black; legs and antennae brownish black; mandibles reddish brown.

Comparison: Arnold (1952) considered B. berthoudi to be a race of B. pumicosa , but it is clear that this species is different from B. pumicosa in that B. pumicosa has long hairs that cover the entire body, which is not the case in B. berthoudi . There are other slight differences between the two species. The anterior medial raised area of the clypeus of B. pumicosa forms a partial carina on the posterior part and a smooth narrowed area on the grooved anterior part. The same character is found in B. berthoudi , but the upper part forms striae instead of a partial carina, the lower part is smooth but wider than that of B. pumicosa . The mandibles have 7 teeth in B. berthoudi , similar to the other B. pumicosa species complex members, whereas B. pumicosa has 8 teeth.

Bothroponera laevissima has the same “u” shaped clypeus as does B. berthoudi , but is easily recognized by the unique sculpture: shiny with scattered punctures. The mandibles have 7 teeth in B. berthoudi and B. laevissima , similar to the other B. pumicosa species complex members.

The body surface of B. berthoudi is densely foveolate, and the fourth abdominal segment is densely covered with foveolae and striae. Basically, the members of the type series consistently differ from the rest of B. pumicosa species complex species in having long erect hairs on most surfaces (except the head) and in lacking a well-defined medial clypeal carina.

The specific epithet “ berthoudi ” was first used by Forel (1890) as a name for Ophthalmopone berthoudi from South Africa. Later, he used it again to identify and describe the male of Ophthalmopone berthoudi . Wheeler and Wheeler (1971) used the same name to identify larvae of O. berthoudi . In 1901 Forel used the same specific epithet to describe Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) berthoudi . Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) berthoudi has been considered to be a secondary homonym of Pachycondyla (Ophthalmopone) berthoudi , as they were both placed in the same genus ( Bolton, 1995), which has caused considerable confusion. In this project, we clearly distinguish between O. berthoudi and B. berthoudi as these now belong to two different genera ( Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014).

The worker of B. berthoudi is identical to the worker of B. variolosa , which is considered a synonym. They have the lower medial margin of the clypeus “u” shaped with a medial raised area and lack the sharp carinae.

Bothroponera cariosa and B. strigulosa have the same “u” shaped lower medial anterior margin of the clypeus, but this area forms a sharp clypeal carinae in both species, which is lacking in B. berthoudi .

Material examined

Type material: SOUTH AFRICA: Mpumalanga Province, Salique, A. R. I. Pretoria A. C. U. P. 314 (forests), 24°36’0’’ S; 30°54’0’’ E, vii-1944, Donated by Univ. Pretoria, 14 Mar 1995, Bothroponera variolosa ( Arnold, 1947) (1w paratype # C008009, SAM-HYM [Iziko]); Limpopo Province, Marieps, A.R.I. Pretoria A. C. U.P. 367 (farmstead and forests), 24°35’0’’ S; 30°52’0’’ E, vii-1944, Bothroponera variolosa n. sp. ( Arnold, 1947), (1w paratype, SAM-ENT [Iziko # 0011524]); Mariepskop Transvaal, (farmstead), 24°35’0’’ S; 30°52’0’’ E, vii-1945, J. C. Faure, Bothroponera variolosa ( Arnold, 1947) , (2w # 0 0 11524 paratypes, SAM-ENT [Iziko], British Museum 1947-250, BMNH (E) 1015515), Antweb Casent 0 902470 (2w paratypes, BMNH).

Non-type material: SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape Province, Algoa-Bay, Capland, 33°50’0’’ S; 25°50’0’’ E, Dr. H. Brauns, Forel det. 1922, that deposited in the Berlin Museum was designated by Forel, (labeled Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) berthoudi Forel , 1w # 6692, MfN), but this specimen is broken into two parts (head with the pronotum is one part and the second part includes the mesonotum, mesopleuron, propodeum, petiole, postpetiole and the 2nd to 5th gastral segments). It is not clear if this specimen is the type or not. Limpopo Province, Mariepskop, 4000 Transvaal (farm), 26°42’0’’ S; 29°53’0’’ E, vii-1944; South Africa Museum ex. National Museum Bulawayo 1981, (labeled Bothroponera variolosa , 1w # 11524 SAM-ENT); Some of the B. berthoudi specimens that were collected by H. Brauns, Paul Berthoud and G. Arnold were considered to be subspecies of B. strigulosa .

Figures

Plate 2: Bothroponera berthoudi worker.

Map 3. The distribution of B. berthoudi.