The Ants of Africa

The Ants of Africa
Genus Trichomyrmex
Trichomyrmex emeryi (Mayr)

The subgenus Parholcomyrmex was defined by Emery (1915i: 190), type species Monomorium gracillima (as Myrmica gracillima, now junior synonym of Trichomyrmex destructor) - see . The main characteristics Emery listed were - slightly dimorphic workers; funiculus with a three-segmented club (Monomorium santschii with four segmented-club, type location Tunisia), the first two segments equi-sized.

Trichomyrmex emeryi (Mayr)

Type location Mozambique (Monomorium Emeryi nov. spec., Mayr, 1895: 132, worker; Arnold, 1916: 213, queen & male) Insel Mozambique, Dr Brauns - see below
subspecies laevior (Monomorium Emeryi Mayr subspec. laevior n. subspec.,Mayr, 1897, 427, worker) from Sri Lanka - no images on Antweb (February 2015)
.

{Monomorium emeryi} Mayr's (1895) description is at . Arnold's (1916) translation of Mayr (1895) and descriptions of the queen and male are at and . Mayr's (1897) description of laevior is at . Bolton's modern description (1987) is at , he does not mention laevior, the listing is in his Catalogue (1995: 263).

WORKER - diagnosis as in key; TL 2.5-3.4 mm; (in Bolton, 1987: 325, not illustrated).

As Bolton (1987) noted, this species, with its heavy sculpture, including striated mandibles, is quite distinct from the other species he (Bolton) placed in the group. Although Bolton stated he examined a total of twenty specimens, including the holotype, he provided no illustration and makes no reference to the illustration given by Arnold (above right). That illustration shows a very different head shape and a funiculus without a distinct club - the inclusion in this group, therefore, seems dubious. A more appropriate placement, perhaps, would be in the scabriceps-group.

{Trichomyrmex emeryi} The photomontage of a cotype worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0908727

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