Re: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
If you are refering to the apparent small protrusion on top of the petiole, forward of the node, it might be a spine or it might be something behind the petiole. I can't tell. I don't have the...
View ArticleRe: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
I'd go with Pheidole rugaticeps Emery 1877. Although some parts are different.
View ArticleRe: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
Any more guesses? Ants of Africa indicates there are no records of Aphaenogaster from Africa, or at least not sub-saharan Africa. But Antweb shows many records from Madagascar. H
View ArticleRe: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
And so it is, H! I was being coy and purposefully misleading (hence the wink emoticon) with my Aphaenogaster suggestion. Looks like the minor of Pheidole megacephala to me.
View ArticleRe: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
Dr. Ant, you know I am humorless and incapable of grasping irony or subtle wit, but I was able to detect that your "Aphaenogaster" comment wasn't a serious effort at naming this ant. However, this ant...
View ArticleRe: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
In a sense, there are Aphaenogaster in Africa, in the form of the closely related and in some cases nearly indistinguishable (at the genus level) Messor sp. But it does seem something of a mystery why...
View ArticleRe: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
Nugi81 got it right, as usual: Pheidole rugaticeps. Dr. Taylor identified this ant from a sample that included one major and several minor workers. In Ants of Africa, Dr. Taylor notes that Pheidole is...
View ArticleRe: Name that Ant #86 (3 Feb 2008)
P. megacephala minors are closer to 2.5mm in length, so the larger size alone could have guided me to another species, had I noticed it. Good one, Harpegnathos! And bravo, Nugi!
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