Mystrium silvestrii Santschi
Type location Cameroun (Santschi, 1914d: 310, illustrated,
worker & queen) from Victoria, collector F. Silvestri, in
1913, ; worker and queen described (see Bolton, 1995)
 .
Santschi's description (1914d, 310, my translation) is at
 .
WORKER - TL 5.8 mm (without the mandibles). Colour dark rust
brown. Anterior of head, mandibles, antennae, legs and gaster of a
variable weak rust. Tarsi and gaster apex yellow. Matt. Head,
thorax, petiole and basal gaster coarsely rugo-reticulate with
large hair pits, with an underlying shiny surface, almost smooth,
from which arises a single short, yellowish, squamose hair. On the
base of the gaster the rugae become longitudinal without forming
reticulations, effaced on the rest of the gaster segments which
are finely and densely punctate with the basal area very finely
transversely reticulate. Mandibles, antennae and femora more
superficially rugo-reticulate, overall densely between the lines,
save on the mandibles where the inter-reticulate spaces give rise
to a short, simple hair. in large of gaster. The squamose hairs
are much shorter than in M. voelztkowi Forel (from
Madagascar) and notably more expanded on the body and femora; the
hairs are ranged along the internal border of the mandibles. On
the edges of the gaster the squamose hairs are rather longer and
intermingled with long narrow hairs. The tarsae are spiny on the
outer margins. Pubescence short, slender, sparse except on the
funiculus.
Head wider than long, strongly scalloped posteriorly, sides
convex behind and concave anteriorly, terminating anteriorly with
two strong spines longer than in M. voelkztkowi. Vertex
with a fairly deep depression. Eyes very small (smaller than in
M. mysticum Roger, from Madagascar) and almost at the
mid-point of the sides. Clypeus slightly longer and less abrupt
than M. mysticum, anterior equally arcuate and
denticulate. Scape just surpassing the midpoint of the sides of
the head. Segments 9 and 10 of the funiculus narrower than long,
segment 11 less than a quarter long than wide. Extremity of
mandibles distinctly spatulate, more enlarged than in mysticum
and voelztkowi. The teeth are smaller, with an upper range
of about 11 reaching almost to the apex where the teeth are very
low and very elongated. The thorax narrows about the mesonotum
which is distinctly short from front to back. Pronotum as long as
wide in its posterior third. Propodeum dorsum wider than long,
angled at 115° to the declivity. Petiole node three times
wider than long. Gaster slightly narrowed after the first segment,
which is twice as wide as long. Legs short.
From Cameroun, Victoria, 3 workers and one female;
collector F. Silvestri - the holotype can be seen at
http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=CASENT0101135.
Bolton (1973a) noted that this is the sole West African species,
distributed throughout the forest zone, and nesting in soil.
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The
photomontage is collated from
The
photomontage is collated from