SUBFAMILY MYRMICINAE - Genus Solenopsis
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The Ants of
Africa SUBFAMILY MYRMICINAE - Genus Solenopsis |
| Contents - Myrmicinae - MYRMICINAE Introduction |
In Tribe SOLENOPSIDINI.
Diagnostic Features - Monomorphic or polymorphic. Antennae 10-segmented with a 2-segmented club. Mandibles with three or four teeth. maxillary palp geniculate. Clypeus strongly longitudinally bicarinate, the median area sharply elevated and deeply inserted between the frontal carinae. Promesonotal suture absent; metanotal groove impressed; propodeum unarmed.
Westwood's (1840b) genus description is at 
, Note: Westwood compared his type-species,
S. mandibularis (junior
synonym of S. geminata), with the Pheidole providens of Sykes (1835,
as Atta providens; placed in Pheidole by Westwood, 1839) but
that is a peculiarly wrong comparison - see Ants
of Egypt - Pheidole providens
for more information.
Arnold (1916: 242) gave a genus description, this is at 
.
Key to major and minor workers, based primarily on
historical description and type images
| ¤ | Queen only known | South Africa - capensis |
| Soldiers | ||
| 1 |  Postpetiole
highly distinctive in being almost flat in profile and widely ovoid
from above; uniformly dark red-brown (Congo specimens) |
Congo - first record of an otherwise Caribbean/USA species - globularia |
| -- | Postpetiole generally not much wider than long and globose in profile | 2 |
| 2 | Clypeal carinae very short and divergent, not terminating in two angles or the teeth quite small; plus the clypeus is quite truncate and only very feebly produced anteriorly in the centre; sides of head noticeably arcuate | 3 |
| -- | Clypeal margin distinctly produced anteriorly with carinae long and ending in sharp teeth | 6 |
| 3 | Small with majors not exceeding TL 2.0 mm | 4 |
| -- | Larger with major TL at least 3.0 mm | 5 |
| . | Major TL no more than 2.0 mm | . |
| 4 |  major - TL 2.0 mm; eyes quite large; pilosity
quite short; last segment of the funiculus enlarged and obtuse; petiole
pedicel quite long; base of gaster quite strongly attenuated; clear
yellow |
West Africa - orbuloides |
| -- |  Worker
- TL 1.0-2.0 mm; eyes of a single facet; scape shorter than fugax;
pronotum only moderately convex; petiole node as long as it is high,
with a long pedicel and no ventral process; head slightly more
punctuate than fugax but less than punctaticeps; shiny
and smooth; dull yellow; major with reddish head |
. |
| . |  Major (non-type) |
. |
| . |
 Minor (type) |
Kenya - africana |
| -- |  Type minor worker - TL 1.2-1.3 mm; head
rectangular, a little longer than wide; occipital border feebly convex;
eye of a single black facet set at 0.4 of head length; scape reaches
posterior fifth of head; gaster not truncate basally; smooth and shiny
except posterior alitrunk which is finely reticulo-punctate and matt;
pilosity short curved and quite abundant; rust-red, head & gaster
yellowish-brown, appendages yellow |
. |
| . |  congolensis type major worker - TL ca 1.8 mm
(minors identical) |
Uganda - ugandensis |
| -- |  TL
1.3-1.5 mm; head elongated; eyes of a single facet or absent; very few
erect hairs; clear pale yellow |
. |
| . |  |
Mediterranean for comparison - orbula |
| -- |  Type minor worker - TL 1.1-1.3 mm; head
rectangular, a little longer than wide, CI 81; occipital border feebly convex;
eye of a single black facet set at 0.4 of head length; scape reaches
posterior quarter of head, SI 72; gaster not truncate basally; smooth and shiny
except posterior alitrunk which is finely reticulo-punctate;
pilosity short curved and quite abundant; reddish-yellow, gaster slightly darker |
South Africa - semilaevis |
| . | Major TL at least 3.0 mm | . |
| 5 |  TL up to 5.0 mm;
head distinctly longer than wide; scapes
reach about 3/4 point of face; propodeum (only in minor?) with carinate
lateral borders |
Pan-tropical tramp (West Africa & Congo Basin form) - geminata type |
| -- |  TL up to 4.3 mm, head
near-square with straighter sides
and smaller clypeal teeth; scapes almost reach the occiput |
West Africa & Congo Basin - geminata innota |
| -- |  TL
up to 3.0 mm; head subrectangular, narrowed behind, slightly longer
than wide; clypeus bicarinate but only weakly bidentate; scape reaching
or slightly surpassing the occipital border; dorsum of alitrunk
shallowly concave but propodeum not bordered; mandibles densely striate
but rest of head and body smooth, apart from weak dispersed piligerous
puncturation, and very shiny; yellow brown with appendages paler and
darker transverse bands on the gaster (based on moelleri
description) |
Tramp (possibly wrongly identified from Africa) - saevissima |
| . | Clypeal margin distinctly produced anteriorly with carinae long and ending in sharp teeth | . |
| 6 |  Head
near rectangular with parallel sides and straight occipital margin |
7 |
| -- |  Head
with at least shallow convexity of occipital margin |
8 |
| 7 |  TL
only 1.5 mm; with abundant erect pilosity; petiole with short peduncle;
brownish yellow |
Congo - maligna |
| -- | TL 2.8-3.0 mm; head a little longer than wide, occipital margin near straight and lateral angles only slightly rounded; scape about two-thirds length of face; eyes of no more than three facets wide; propodeum with smoothly curved transition from dorsum to declivity; close to orbuloides but with much longer and more abundant pilosity (presumably yellow) | Fernando Po - georgica |
| 8 | Head elongated with near straight sides and only shallow convexity of occipital margin; | 9 |
| -- |  Head
near square with at least moderately convex sides and deeper convexity
of occipital margin |
10 |
| 9 |  TL
up to 2.6 mm; eye of a single facet; wholly shiny; basically yellow
head of major somewhat darker |
. |
| . |  |
Ethiopia - gnomula |
| -- |  Worker - TL 2.0 mm; head rectangular (shorter
than africana, maligna and gnomula), narrowest
posteriorly and with occipital border feebly convex; eye of a single
facet; scape reaching occipital border; gaster with truncate anterior
border; erect pilosity fine often curved, more abundant than africana;
propodeum smooth (reticulate in ugandensis); pale yellow;
smooth with very fine pilgerous puncturation and greasy appearance; |
Uganda - insinuans |
| . | Head near square with at least moderately convex sides and deeper convexity of occipital margin | . |
| 10 |  TL
up to 3.6 mm; scapes reaching only about two-thirds of face; whole body
with rather long erect pale yellowish pilosity; colour dirty ochreous,
gaster with apical half of each segment reddish brown-yellow |
. |
| . |  Major of ssp fur |
. |
| . |  |
Panafrican - punctaticeps |
| -- |  TL
2.0 mm (? worker); anterior of clypeus with only a central pair of
small teeth; alitrunk overall much narrower than punctaticeps;
head and anterior alitrunk with very short, dense erect yellowish
pubescence; straw-yellow, head and anterior alitrunk darker; moderately
shiny but head and anterior alitrunk densely puncturate with much
larger, deeper punctures than punctaticeps |
Zimbabwe - zambesiae |
 |
MYRMICINAE Introduction |
© 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019 - Brian Taylor CBiol
FRSB FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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