Euponera brunoi (Forel)

Type location Zimbabwe (Pachycondyla (Ectomyrmex) brunoi, Forel, 1913j: 205, worker; Arnold, 1915: 54, male; Arnold, 1926: 201, queen; in Ectomyrmex Wheeler, 1922: 774; in Trachymesopus and synonymy, Brown, 1963: 8; new status Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 86) collected at Bulawayo.
junior synonyms
bayoni (Euponera (Trachymesopus) bayoni n.sp., Menozzi, 1933a: 97, worker) from Uganda, Kome, Sesse Archipelago - see below.
dentis (Euponera (Mesoponera) dentis, sp. nov., Weber, 1942a: 43, illustrated mandible, queen) from South Sudan, Lotti Forest, Imatong Mts - see below.
katangana (Ectomyrmex (Trachymesopus) nigeriensis, Sants. v. katangana n.var., Santschi, 1933b: 96, worker) from Zaïre, collected at Pweto, Lumbumbashi [Elizabethville] - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=rmcaent000017731
lamottei (Euponera (Trachymesopus) lamottei, Bernard, 1952: 195, illustrated, queen) from Guinea, Mt. Nimba - http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0915479
nigeriensis (Euponera (Trachymesopus) nigeriensis, in Santschi, 1914d: 316, worker, in Wheeler, 1922; Ectomyrmex nigeriensis Sants., Santschi, 1933b: 96) from Nigeria, collected at Olokemeji by F. Silvestri, xii.1912 - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0915249
all forms known (see Bolton, 1995). Synonymy by Brown (1963) .

Forel's (1913j) description is at . Santschi's (1914d) description of nigeriensis is at . Arnold's (1915: 54) translation and description of the male is at ; his (1926) description of the queen is at . Menozzi's (1933a) description of bayoni is at . Santschi's (1933b) further note on nigeriensis and description of katangana is at . Weber's (1942a) description of dentis is at ;

Brown (1963: 8) after listing his synonymies, simply noted -
"This species occurs widely in Africa south of the Sahara. In addition to the types mentioned above, I have seen samples from Liberia, Cameroons and the Kalahari Desert. There is some small variation among these samples in relative head width and in strength and opacity of the sculpture, but this appears to be both size-linked(allometric) and continuous."
Brown makes no mention of the clear separation between nigeriensis with eyes of 18-20 facets and brunoi with 4 or 6 "ill-defined facets" (Arenold, 1915)

The photomontage of the type worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0907269

Nigeria specimens (as Trachymesopus brunoi, Taylor, 1976: 31)-
TL 4.75 mm, HL 0.96, HW 0.93, SL 0.68, PW 0.68 . Colour black, red-brown extremities and appendages. Sculpture of fine dense puncturation, relatively dense pilosity all over. Mandibles with a basal fovea on dorsolateral surface. Clypeus carinate medially. Eyes small. Metanotal groove very weakly impressed. Dorsum of propodeum narrower than that of pronotum.

Wheeler (1922) listed nigeriensis from Ghana (Aburi, F. Silvestri).

From Guinea, Bernard (1952) recorded a single dealated queen (as Euponera (Trachymesopus) lamottei), collected from Kéoulenta savanna (27-iii-1942, Lamotte), remarking that the nearest relative he had seen was Euponera sharpi Forel, known by workers only from Singapore.

Brown (1963) reported that, in addition to the types, he had seen specimens from Cameroun, Liberia and the Kalahari Desert and that there was some small variation in relative head width and in strength and opacity of the sculpture, but that appeared to be both size-linked (allometric) and continuous.

In Nigeria collected in soil and from a dead log (B. Bolton), often found with termites (Bolton, 1973a).

Described as widespread in the Ghana semi-deciduous forest zone, from leaf litter sampling, 24 workers, and soil, 9 workers, by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).

Oxford University Museum specimens

Euponera brunoi B Taylor det.	Liberia E Poirier Liabala PF 6	2.iv.2013 Nimba County 07°31’06" N 08°35’34" E	Pitfall trap Secondary forest 473 m asl	1
Euponera brunoi B Taylor det.	Liberia E Poirier Yekepa PF 16	29.iii.2013 Nimba County 07°33’38" N 08°32’33" E	Pitfall trap Degraded secondary forest 518 m asl	1
Euponera brunoi B Taylor det.	Benin J-F Vayssieres RVA 3091.2	20.iii.2011 Tchatchou 09°05'57.3'' N 02°34'27.4'' E	Mangifera indica hand collected 406 m asl	1
Euponera brunoi B Taylor det.	Gabon Y Braet Gabon 177	8.vi-20.vi.2006 Pongara 00°34' N 09°19' E	Pongara Base; winkler funnel	1

The photomontage is of a worker from Gabon, Pongara Camp Base; collector Yves Braet (Gabon 178).

The photomontage is of a worker from Liberia, Yekepa; collector E Poiriet (Yekepa PF XVI).

The photomontage is of a worker from Benin, Tchatchou; collector J-F Vayssieres (RVA 3091).

The photomontage of the type worker of bayoni is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0905860

The photomontage of the type queen is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0902476

The photomontage of the type male is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0902475

The photomontage of the holotype queen of dentis is from the MCZ website.