The Ants of Africa
Genus
Bothroponera
Bothroponera soror Emery

Bothroponera soror Emery

return to key {link to the Hymenoptera Name Server} Type location Cameroun (Ponera (Bothroponera) soror n. sp., Emery, 1899e: 472, worker & queen; Menozzi, 1944, male; new status Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 77) collected by Conradt - see below.
subspecies
ancilla (Ponera (Bothroponera) soror var. ancilla n. var., Emery, 1899e: 472, worker) from Congo, River Kuilu, collector? - no images on Antweb (June 2014).
suturalis (Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) soror Emery subsp. suturalis n. subsp., Forel, 1907c: 133, worker) from Ethiopia, Karssa - no images on Antweb (June 2014).
all forms described (see Bolton, 1995) .


Emery's (1899e) description is at {original description}. Arnold (1915) gave a translation, this is at {original description}. Forel's (1907c) description of suturalis is at {original description}.

TL 8.00 (Ghana), TL 7.0-7.2 mm, HL 1.5, HW 1.35 (Guinea, Bernard, 1952; in my guide as Bothroponera soror).
Similar colouration and sculpturation to P. silvestrii but significantly larger. Bernard (1952) noted colour black but with weak bronze reflections. Head and body with fine shagreening. Head with parallel sides, widest from the eyes back. Eye with 130-140 facets (ommatidia) cf 180 for lamottei (for comparative illustration go to Pachycondyla lamottei). Clypeus brown-red, little or no striation, with a medial lobe which is feebly concave anteriorly.


{Pachycondyla soror}Wheeler (1922) had other records from Togo (Bismarckburg, Conradt) and Cameroun (Metit, G. Schwab; Mundame, Conradt; Yaoundé, Zenker) plus eastwards to Zimbabwe. Mr. Lang found the workers crawling on tree trunks and noted that "when crushed, they gave off a stench reminding one of a bug" (presumably he meant a shield bug).

Examined specimen from Ghana, no location. Also found in Ghana cocoa leaf litter and nesting in dead wood on the ground under cocoa at the Mampong Cemetery farm (Room, 1971). Single workers were found by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b) in a leaf litter sample from cocoa at Kade and secondary forest at Bunso.

Bernard (1952) described this species (as Bothroponera soror) as widespread throughout Africa, except the North-East. In Guinea numerous specimens were found of this the most common "Bothroponera" occurring throughout the high elevations (primary forest and the crests, at 1100-1600 m); one is illustrated left (scan of photocopied photo).

In Nigeria, its biology and use of chemicals was studied at Mokwa by Longhurst et al. (1980).

Nest founding and queen behaviour was investigated in Zaïre by Haskins (1941). He described the species as fairly common, though locally distributed in the Congo rain forest to which it was largely confined. Further, he wrote that it nests by preference in the soil about decaying wet logs in the deeper forest, frequently running its galleries well into the wood. The young females foraged actively to feed their first brood larvae and this activity lapsed once workers commenced foraging. Its use of a mandibular gland secretion to attract other workers to prey was described by Longhurst et al. (1980).


{Pachycondyla soror}The photomontage of the type worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=rmcaent000017726.


Oxford University Museum specimens

Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Senegal
Tambacounda
B Ndiaye
12.v.2009
Bransan
13°16'0" N
12°6'0" W
Bransan 12-V-09 St 9 P5B
Soudanian savannah

1
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Senegal
Kolda
B Ndiaye

11.viii.2009
Kolo
12°45'0" N
13°41'60" W
Sabodola 11-VIII-09 Koilo St5
48 m; Soudanian savannah, pitfall traps

2
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Senegal
Tambacounda
B Ndiaye

5.viii.2009
Niakafiri
13°09'40" N
12°06'46" W
Niakafiri 5-VIII-09 St 6 Dans le sol
213 m; Soudanian savannah, by hand, underground

4
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Liberia
E Poirier
Liabala
PF 19
2.iv.2013
Nimba County
07°31’06" N
08°35’34" E
Pitfall trap
Secondary forest
473 m asl

1
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Benin
J-F Vayssieres
RVA 3099.10
9.xi.2011
Kika-Beterou
09°14'07'' N
02°11'52'' E
running on the ground
4
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Cameroun
G Debout & A Dalecky
Cameroon 57

10.iv.2001
EBO
2°33.97' N
9°50.62' E
on the soil surface at sardine oil bait
1
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Cameroun
A Fotso Kuate
Sample 52

28.vii.2010
Nko’ondo
03°54'30" N
11°25'58" E

1
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Gabon
Y Braet
Gabon 50

20.vii.2006
Pongara
00°34' N
09°19' E
Pointe Wingombe, under trees, pitfall trap
1
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Gabon
Y Braet
Gabon 217

27.vi-10.vii.2006
Pongara
00°34' N
09°19' E
Leaf litter, winkler funnel
1
{album}
Pachycondyla (Bothroponera) soror
B Taylor det.
Gabon
Y Braet
Gabon 172

8.vi-20.vi.2006
Pongara
00°34' N
09°19' E
Pongara Base; winkler funnel
1

Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Congo
Y Braet
t-1-6

19.viii.2007
Brazzaville
4° 15' 33" S
15° 17' 5" E
24h pitfall trap; forest around the GERDIB laboratories; 317 m asl
2
{album}
Bothroponera soror
B Taylor det.
Central African Republic
P Annoyer
PZ
30.xi.2010
Dzanga-Sangha
2°28'49.5"N
16°12'55.9"E
392 m; nuit, à vue, Sipo trap on tree at mid-trunk, camp de base lac 1, samuel
1
{album}

{Pachycondyla soror}The photomontage is of a specimen collected in Cameroun - south-western tropical coastal forest area between Edéa and Campo (McKey Wolbachia project, Cameroon 57).

The erect setae at least reflect light to appear orange-brown, mandibles and extremities also this colour.


{Pachycondyla soror}The photomontage is of a specimen from Gabon, Pongara National Park, Point Wingombé; collector Yves Braet (Gabon 50). 


{Pachycondyla soror}The photomontage is of a worker from Cameroun; Nko'ondo; aphid survey; collector A Fotso Kuate (fk unmounted 52).


{Pachycondyla soror}The photomontage is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=sam-hym-c000919a&shot=p1&project=.
South Africa: Transvaal: Dunstable Farm, nr the Lodge; 24°28'00"S 030°47'00"E
Collection Information: Collection codes: SAM-HYM-C000919 Date: 8 Feb 1988
Collected by: H.G.Robertson Method: turning over rocks
Habitat: woodland The small size, TL ca 6.5mm, and near absence of hair pits on the head and petiole, suggest Robertson's label is correct and that this may well be a distinct species.

Contents
© 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017 - Brian Taylor CBiol FRSB FRES
11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K.

href="pachycondyla_soror.htm"