Bothroponera pongarensis Taylor new species

Type location Gabon .

WORKER DESCRIPTION:  petiolar node with sharp anterior and posterior margins in dorsal view, dorsum almost flat; head, thorax, petiole and postpetiole coarsely punctate, this puncturation never confluent, coarsest and most widely separated on the petiole dorsum; mandibles striate; red-brown

TL ca 5.6 mm, HW 1.3, HL 1.4, CI 89, SL 0.9, SI 85, PW 0.95

Immediately separable from all described African Bothroponera by being about half the size of the smallest of the related species.

Falls within the genus Bothroponera as re-described by Schmidt & Shattuck (2014), and their sulcata-group, lacking a stridulum on the gaster. However, there is no obvious pale plandular patch on the posterior surface of the metatibia (close to the spur) that they mention. Etymology: Name derived from collection location.

Specimen deposited in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Bothroponera pongarensis B Taylor det.

Gabon Y Braet Gabon 215

27.vi-10.vii.2006 Pongara 00°34' N 09°19' E

Leaf litter, winkler funnel

1

Photomontage of the holotype worker from Gabon, Pongara National Park; collector Yves Braet (Gabon 215).