Bothroponera pachyderma

Bothroponera pachyderma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Bothroponera
Species complex:	talpa
Species:	B. pachyderma
Binomial name
Bothroponera pachyderma Emery, 1901 Specimen Label
Synonyms
Pachycondyla pachyderma attenata Santschi, 1920 Bothroponera pachyderma funerea Wheeler, W.M., 1922 Pachycondyla pachyderma postsquamosa Santschi, 1920

Identification

• 

  Mandibular striations.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Bothroponera talpa species complex
• Key to Ethiopian Bothroponera

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 6.5° to -18.63407°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Angola, Congo (type locality), Democratic Republic of Congo (type locality), Cameroun (type locality), Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda.

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

Fungi

This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps australis (a pathogen) in Africa (Shrestha et al., 2017).

Castes

.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

.

Queen

.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Nomenclature

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

• pachyderma. Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) pachyderma Emery, 1901a: 49 (w.q.) CAMEROON.
  • Combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 308;
  • combination in Bothroponera: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 73; Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 76.
  • Senior synonym of attenuata: Joma & Mackay, 2020: 369.
  • Senior synonym of funerea: Joma & Mackay, 2020: 369.
  • Senior synonym of postsquamosa: Joma & Mackay, 2020: 369.
  • Status as species: Mayr, 1907b: 9; Emery, 1911d: 76; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 73, 771; Menozzi, 1942: 166; Weber, 1943c: 297; Eidmann, 1944: 430; Arnold, 1954: 292; Bolton, 1995b: 308; Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 221.
• attenuata. Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) pachyderma var. attenata Santschi, 1920b: 7 (w.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
  • [Justified emendation of spelling to attenuata: Santschi, 1933b: 95.]
  • Combination in Bothroponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 76.
  • Subspecies of pachyderma: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 771; Santschi, 1933b: 95; Bolton, 1995b: 303.
  • Junior synonym of pachyderma: Joma & Mackay, 2020: 369.
• funerea. Bothroponera pachyderma var. funerea Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 73 (q.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
  • Combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 305;
  • combination in Bothroponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 76.
  • Subspecies of pachyderma: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 771; Bolton, 1995b: 305.
  • Junior synonym of pachyderma: Joma & Mackay, 2020: 369.
• postsquamosa. Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) pachyderma var. postsquamosa Santschi, 1920b: 7 (w.) CONGO.
  • Combination in Bothroponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 76.
  • Subspecies of pachyderma: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 771; Bolton, 1995b: 308.
  • Junior synonym of pachyderma: Joma & Mackay, 2020: 369.

References

• Beutel, R.G., Richter, A., Keller, R.A., Hita Garcia, F., Matsumura, Y., Economo, E.P., Gorb, S.N. 2020. Distal leg structures of the Aculeata (Hymenoptera): A comparative evolutionary study of (Sphecidae) and (Formicidae). Journal of Morphology 281, 737–753 (doi:10.1002/JMOR.21133).
• 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 308, Combination in Pachycondyla)
• Emery, C. 1901b. Notes sur les sous-familles des Dorylines et Ponérines (Famille des Formicides). Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 45: 32-54 (page 49, worker, queen described)
• 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. 2020. Revision of the African ants of the Bothroponera talpa species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 146: 355-408. (doi:10.3157/061.146.0206).
• Richter, A., Boudinot, B.E., Hita Garcia, F., Billen, J., Economo, E.P., Beutel, R.G. 2023. Wonderfully weird: the head anatomy of the armadillo ant, Tatuidris tatusia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Agroecomyrmecinae), with evolutionary implications. Myrmecological News 33: 35-75 (doi:10.25849/MYRMECOL.NEWS_033:035).
• 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).
• Shrestha B, Tanaka E, Hyun MW, Han JG, Kim CS, Jo JW, Han SK, Oh J, Sung JM, Sung GH. 2017. Mycosphere Essay 19. Cordyceps species parasitizing hymenopteran and hemipteran insects. Mycosphere 8(9): 1424–1442 (DOI 10.5943/mycosphere/8/9/8).
• 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 72, Combination in Bothroponera)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Arnold G. 1954. New Formicidae from Kenya and Uganda. Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge. Nouvelle Série in Quarto. Sciences Zoologiques. 1: 291-295.
• Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 3: 5-16.
• Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 3: 5-16.
• 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.
• Fisher B. L. 2004. Diversity patterns of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an elevational gradient on Monts Doudou in southwestern Gabon. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 28: 269-286.
• IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
• Levieux J. 1972. Etude du peuplement en fourmis terricoles d'une savane preforestiere de Cote d'Ivoire. Revue d'Ecologie et de Biologie du Sol 10(3): 381-428.
• Levieux J., and T. Diomande. 1985. Evolution des peuplements de fourmis terricoles selon l'age de la végétation dans une foret de Cote d'Ivoire intacte ou soumise à l'action humaine. Insectes Sociaux 32(2): 128-139.
• 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.
• Stephens S. S., P. B. Bosu, and M. R. Wager. 2016. Effect of overstory tree species diversity and composition on ground foraging ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in timber plantations in Ghana. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & management 12(1-2): 96-107.
• 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.