Bothroponera laevissima

Bothroponera laevissima
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Bothroponera
Species group:	pumicosa
Species:	B. laevissima
Binomial name
	Bothroponera laevissima; (Arnold, 1915) Specimen labels

The lone biological information known about this species is that a collection was made from Strandveld.

Identification

Joma and Mackay (2015) - A member of the Bothroponera pumicosa species complex. The workers of Bothroponera laevissima are large (total length 12 - 13 mm) shiny black ants. The mandibles are shorter than the head length and covered with fine striae. The anterior medial raised area of the clypeus is convex, but lacks a longitudinal carina; the anterior border is “u” shaped. The lower margin of the clypeus has a short grooved beak on the lower margin of the posteroclypeus. The metapleural area is compressed in some specimens.

The head is smooth and shiny with few punctulae scattered on the surface. The pronotum, mesonotum, mesopleuron, propodeum, petiole and postpetiole are smooth and shiny with a few scattered punctulae. The petiole is more sculptured than the other body parts. The second gastral tergite is smooth and glossy.

The worker of B. laevissima can be recognized as a shiny black ant. The general characters of the worker of B. laevissima are similar to those of the worker of Bothroponera aspera, but the lower margin of the anterior medial raised area of the clypeus has a “u” shape in B. laevissima while it has “v” shape in B. aspera. The lower margin of the clypeus forms a grooved beak in B. laevissima, which is not found in B. aspera. Despite that they both have a shiny surface and black color, B. laevissima is characterized by a smooth head with few scattered punctulae, similar to the pronotum, mesonotum, mesopleuron, propodeum, petiole and postpetiole. The petiole is more sculptured than other body surfaces; the second gastral tergite is smooth. Conversely, B. aspera is recognized as rough with dense shallow punctulae on the body surface (head, pronotum, mesonotum, mesopleuron, propodeum, petiole and postpetiole), the tergum of the second-fifth gastral segments are mostly smooth and glossy. Due to the mostly polished sculpture, B. laevissima would not be confused with any other species except B. aspera. Bothroponera laevissima was collected from Saldanha Bay, Western province area of South Africa, where B. aspera also occurs, which further suggests they are separate species.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -29.20285288° to -33.681795°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: South Africa (type locality).

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.

Biology

Castes


.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Male


.

Nomenclature

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

laevissima. Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) laevissima Arnold, 1915: 58, pl. 2, figs. 15, 15a (w.) SOUTH AFRICA.
- Type-material: lectotype worker (by designation of Joma & Mackay, 2015: 553), 3 paralectotype workers.
- [Note: 2w syntypes BMNH should be included as paralectotypes.]
- Type-locality: lectotype South Africa: Cape Prov., Saldanha Bay, ix.1912 (L. Péringuey); paralectotypes with same data.
- Type-depositories: SAMC (lectotype); BMNH, SAMC (paralectotypes).
- Combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 306;
- combination in Bothroponera: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 73; Joma & Mackay, 2013: 3; Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 76.
- Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 73 (in key), 770; Arnold, 1962: 844; Arnold, 1952a: 462 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 306; Joma & Mackay, 2015: 553 (redescription).
- Distribution: South Africa.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Joma and Mackay (2015) - (n=9), HL 2.90 - 3.10, HW 2.50 - 2.65, ML 1.55 - 1.70, EW 0.35, EL 0.35 - 0.40, SL 1.95 - 2.15, FL 2.95 - 3.10, WL 3.65 - 3.95, WPL 4.40 - 4.85, PL 0.95 - 1.10, PW 1.15 - 1.30, PH 1.35 - 1.55, CI 85.48 - 86.20, OI 14.00 - 15.09, MandI 53.44 - 54.83, SI 78.00 - 81.13, PetI 118.18 - 121.05. Head suborbiculate; mandibles with 7 teeth; clypeal length 2.15 - 2.35 mm; frontal lobe width 0.90 - 1.05 mm; scape nearly reaches posterior lateral corner of head; compound eyes relatively large; malar area length 0.60 - 0.75 mm, length from upper margin of eye to upper margin of posterior corner of head 1.25 - 1.45 mm; area around basilar sclerite depressed; basalar sclerite oval; propodeum rounded; propodeal spiracle elongated, diagonal on lateropropodeum; sternopostpetiolar process well developed; edges and anterior part of frontal lobes shiny; entire body covered with scattered or moderately abundant short erect silver hairs (0.07 - 0.10 mm), hairs on dorsum denser than those on sides, longer than those on head, similar hairs on petiole, postpetiole, range from 0.10 - 0.15 mm; entire body black; legs, antennae and mandibles brownish.

Type Material

Joma and Mackay (2015) - South Africa: Western Cape Province, Saldanha Bay, 33°1’0’’ S; 17°57’0’’ E, ix-1912, L. P., Rhodesian museum, South Africa museum ex. National museum Bulawayo 1981, Pachycondyla laevissima G. Arnold, SAM-ENT 11518, 11517, Bothroponera laevissima (4w, lectotype marked with red dot and 3 paralectotype worker without dot [here designated], Iziko). leg. F. Peringuey; ix 1912; Pachycondyla laevissima, G. Arnold; Arnold coll. B. M. 1934-354 (The Natural History Museum (E) 1015515) Antweb Casent 0902471, Bothroponera laevissima (2w, Syntypes, BMNH).

References

Arnold, G. 1915. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part I. Ponerinae, Dorylinae. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 14: 1-159 (page 58, pl. 2, fig. 15 worker described)
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 306, Combination in Pachycondyla)
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).
Joma, A.M.A. & Mackay, W.P. 2015. Revision of the African ants of the Bothroponera pumicosa species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae). Sociobiology 62: 538-563 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v62i4.845).
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 73, Combination in Bothroponera)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Arnold G. 1915. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part I. Ponerinae, Dorylinae. Annals of the South African Museum 14: 1-159.
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