Megaponera analis (Latreille)

Type location Ghana (Formica analis Latreille, 1802c: 282; name which replaced Formica foetens Fabricius, 1793: 354, collected by Isert, a name preceded by a myrmicine species Formica foetens Olivier, etc., 1792: 503; Emery, 1897e: 597, male, no details; note Arnold, 1915: 48, queen, probably was P. laeviuscula; in Pachycondyla, Bolton, 1995: 302; status revived Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 125) - no images on Antweb (June 2014)
subspecies
amazon (Megaponera foetens Fabricius, var. amazon, nov., Santschi, 1935b: 257, illustrated, male) from Ethiopia, Bourillé and Diré-Daoua - no images on Antweb (June 2014)
foetens had junior synonyms
abyssinica (Ponera abyssinica, Guérin-Méneville, 1849: 352, illustrated, worker; not listed by Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 107) from Ethiopia - no images on Antweb (June 2014)
dohrni (Megaponera Dohrni n. sp., Emery, 1902c: 30, worker; Forel, 1909b: 64; not listed by Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 107) from Ghana, Akropong - no images on Antweb (June 2014)
.

Note: Marcus Stüben has told me (September 2009) that Isert (Paul Erdmann Isert), who often is listed from Fabricius (1793) as collecting in "Guinea" (and was by me also until now) actually collected in "Danish Guinea" = Gold Coast = modern Ghana. See Chapter 2 - Geography and History - Ghana for more.

Fabricius's (1793) description is at . Latreille's (1802c) description is at . Guérin-Méneville's (1849) description is at . Emery's (1902c) description of dohrni is at . Mayr's (1907b) description of the male is at . Santschi (1935b) described amazon at .

WORKERS - TL major ca 15 mm, minor 9-11 mm; HW 2.40-2.96 mm majors, 1.39-1.99 mm minors (Longhurst & Howse, 1979b; in my guide as Megaponera foetens but only in the index). Although usually described as dimorphic, Longhurst & Howse found it to display monophasic allometry, with some 50% being majors, 25% intermediates and 25% minors, as determined from HW measurement.

My first encounter with the species was the specimens from Cameroun and the markedly different appearance of the minor morph led me astray at first. The minor has a very shiny head and pronotum, plus peculiarly reduced forelegs. Both morphs, however, have the genae (cheeks) with a distinct longitudinal carina - previously regarded as diagnostic for the monotypic Genus Megaponera (as in Wheeler, 1922, & Bolton, 1973).

Wheeler (1922) (who provided the nest illustration, right, and linked) listed very many findings from sub-Saharan Africa; from West Africa were Senegal (Thiès, F. Silvestri), Sierra Leone (F. Silvestri), Ghana (Akropong, Imhoff), Togo (at ?, H. Brauns; Bismarckbrug, Conradt), Nigeria (Agege, Ibadan, by Farquharson) and Cameroun (Metit, G. Schwab).

Pictured in Hölldobler & Wilson (1990, page 88, as Megaponera foetens). Bolton (1973a) describes it as being confined to savannah areas, being soil nesting and raiding termite nests. An aromatic species, it stridulates audibly when disturbed.

In Ghana, Room (1971) found it in the cocoa growing area, on open ground at the Mampong Cemetery farm.

In Nigeria, it was studied at Mokwa, in the southern Guinea savannah, by Longhurst & Howse (1979a, b, et ante), who described its predation on termites, and the biology of males. Almost half of the 73 nests which they examined were in deserted nests of the termite Macrotermes bellicosus (Smith), most of the rest were in the ground under bushes. Activity was either early morning (0700-0930 h) or late afternoon (1630-1830h). Major "scout ants" locate foraging termites, by detecting chemicals in the soil sheeting built by the termites. The scout, then recruit other workers, scent trails being used once the route is established. Only the minor workers enter the sheeting and bring out captured termites, stacking the prey around the entry points. At the end of the raid the termites are carried back to the analis nests, mainly by the majors. This behaviour appears to differ from the much more aggressive attacks launched on and into termite mounds by laeviuscula - see below.

Ivory Coast studies, Lévieux (1976a) gives the colony size as 450-600 adults. Nest density there can be as many as 20 colonies per hectare, but foraging recruitment appeared not to involve a scout ant.

Male on linked page

Oxford University Museum specimens

Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Senegal B Ndiaye	5.v.2009 Tandiankunda 13°06'30"N 12°05'18" W	Tandiankunda 05-V-09 St 2 P18F Soudanian savannah, pitfall traps	2
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Mali Z Yefremova & V Kravchenko	xii.2010 Sevare 14°32' N 04°06' W	Niger River, bank of lagoon CDC trap	2
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det. Male	Mali Z Yefremova & V Kravchenko 95448	25.xii.2010 Sevare 14°32' N 04°06' W	Niger River, bank of lagoon malaise trap	3
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Cameroun G Debout & A Dalecky Cameroon 131	15.vi.2001 Poli 8°29' N 13°15' E	30 km east of Poli at a Sudan-Guinea savannah location	2
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer FE	08.ii.2005 Dzanga-Sangha 02°50’01.8" N 16°08’13.7" E	Camp 3; 08.02.2005, 24h, fourmis passant en colonne sur le camp; 375m asl	2
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer	1998 Bayanga-Lidjombo		1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer HA SOUCHE	09.x.2008 Dzanga-Sangha 03°07'06.4" N 16°07'59.2" E	373 m; Camp de transit 1; 14h30-17h30; Bord fleuve Sangha	1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer JA	16.x.2008 Dzanga-Sangha 03°03'58.3" N 16°08'59.6" E	528 m; Camp 1; 17h30-4h; A 20 m de l'Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon, Sterculiaceae) dans la forêt	1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det. Queen	Central African Republic P Annoyer JA	16.x.2008 Dzanga-Sangha 03°03'58.3" N 16°08'59.6" E	528 m; Camp 1; 17h30-4h; A 20 m de l'Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon, Sterculiaceae) dans la forêt	1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer DG-03	20.i.2005 Dzanga-Sangha 04°04’34.5" N 17°02’27.7" E	Forêt de N’go; 537 m asl	1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det. Male	Central African Republic P Annoyer DG-03	20.i.2005 Dzanga-Sangha 04°04’34.5" N 17°02’27.7" E	Forêt de N’go; 537 m asl	1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Sudan A Omer S 1-15	2005-6 El Obeid 13.1833333 N 30.2166667 E		1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Sudan A Omer S 2-19	2005-6 El Obeid 13.1833333 N 30.2166667 E		1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det.	Sudan A Omer S 2-21	2005-6 Jebel alnuba		1
Pachycondyla (Megaponera) analis B Taylor det. Male	Sudan Z Mahmoud 2009-25	Abbasiya 12°1'9.01" N 27°58'3.17" E	Hand collected	1

Majors

The photomontage is of a major collected in Cameroun - 30 km east of Poli (ca °29' N 13°29' E) at a Sudan-Guinea savannah location (McKey Project). 

The photomontage is of specimens from Sudan, El Obeid, collected by Awatif Omer, 2006, Sudan 15.

The photomontage is of a major from the Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha NP; Assiette jaune Ayous, 15-18-x, 2008; collector Philippe Annoyer

Minors

The photomontage is of a minor collected in Cameroun - 30 km east of Poli (ca °29' N 13°29' E) at a Sudan-Guinea savannah location (McKey Project)

The photomontage is of a minor from the Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha NP; 16.x.2008; 17h30-4h; Camp 1; 03°03'58.3" N 16°08'59.6" E 528 m; A 20 m de l'Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon, Sterculiaceae) dans la forêt; collector Philippe Annoyer. .