Lepisiota piliscapa (Santschi)
Type location Zaïre (Acantholepis
piliscapa n. sp., Santschi, 1935a: 273, worker) type and one other
worker collected at Kunungu, by Dr Schouteden, 2.iv.1921 - see below
subspecies
longipilosa
(Acantholepis piliscapa
Santschi stirps longipilosa
n.
st., Santschi, 1935a: 274, worker) from Zaïre, Manyema, Niemba Tengo,
by Dr Gérard - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=rmcaent000017807
punctifrons (Acantholepis
piliscapa Santschi v. punctifrons
n. v., Santschi, 1935a: 274, worker), also from Zaïre, at Mongende, by
Dr Schouteden, 21.iv.1921 - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=rmcaent000017806
workers only known .
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Santschi's (1935a) description is on . My translation is:
WORKER. TL 2.7-2.8 mm; colour black; scape, femora and tibiae dark
brown; mandibles and funiculi brown red; tarsi brown yellow. Head and
thorax matt. Head finely and densely puncturate, reticulate with a
tendency to longitudinal striation on the vertex. Pronotum and
metasternum finely longitudinally striate; upper sides of meso and
metasternum reticulate like the head, with areas of longitudinal rugae,
largest on the sides. Propodeum reticulate, punctured dorsally and
laterally, declivity transversely striate. Gaster very finely
reticulate, to give dull appearance. Erect pilosity brown, quite long,
basally slender, oblique and abundant on the gaster, more erect and
sparser on thorax and head. Legs with long slightly raised pubescence.
Scape with a short raised pilosity.
Head rounded, slightly longer than wide. Clypeus convex with diffuse
median carina. Mandibles smooth with 5-6 teeth. Maxillary palps very
elongated. Postclypeal notch distinct. Frontal carinae long, far apart
and subparallel. Eyes occupying a good third of the face, set around
the posterior third of the face; seen from the front the eyes just
reach the lateral borders. Posterior to the eyes, head regularly
rounded. Frontal area of face limited. Scapes slender and straight,
surpassing the occiput by a little less than half their length;
funiculus segment 1 twice as long as wide, 2 & 3 together as long
as 1. Thorax somewhat elongated; pronotum wider than long; mesonotum
convex, twice as long as metanotum; metanotal suture absent on sides.
In profile, propodeum dorsum raised obliquely frontally, highly concave
between the angles which are raised and divergent. Petiole scale
slightly higher than posterior peduncle, twice as wide medially as at
the summit, which is indented with raised teeth, as long as half the
interbasal space.
Stirps punctifrons differed in having large
piliferous
points on the the smooth sides of the vertex, more developed than the
type and set in a background of very fine striations. In the type these
points are less pronounced and obscured by general striation. Pronotum
more depressed, almost concave dorsally and more feebly waisted.
Stirps longipilosa had longer and finer brown
pilosity
over all the body and on the legs, where it was raised and yellowish;
also longer pubescence on the scape. Head similarly sculptured but
gaster and thorax shinier, with the latter with reduced striation.
Mandibles, basal two-thirds of the scape and tarsi yellowish; median
clypeus, remainder of antenna, articulations of legs and petiole scale
yellow or less brown. Clypeus with more defined median carina; frontal
carinae farther apart and longer. Scape longer. Dorsum of pronotum
depressed. Mesonotum slightly longer. Propodeum slightly more elevated.
Petiole scale a little longer than high, summit bidentate. Otherwise as
type.
From the Antweb images the two stirps are almost identical to the type.
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