Plagiolepis (Plagiolepis) brunni Mayr

Type location Mozambique (Mayr, 1895: 148, worker); subspecies nilotica from Sudan (Mayr, 1904b: 7, worker) and pubescens (Forel, 1913e: 140, worker) from Zimbabwe (see Bolton, 1995) .

Mayr's (1895) description is at - . A translation by Arnold (1922a: 603) is at - . Mayr's 1904b description of nilotica is at . Subspecies pubescens notably pubescent, while type lacking in pubescence.

Nigeria specimen (Taylor, 1978: 41). WORKER. TL 1.32 mm, HL 0.36, HW 0.31, SL 0.30, PW 0.19
Colour yellow, shiny and no sculpturation. Few erect hairs and only sparse pilosity. Promesonotal and metanotal sutures marked. Propodeum with an obtusely curved angle. BR>An abundant species, commonly found on over 7% of cocoa trees and at 65/76 farms, but seems to play no significant role in the ant mosaic. Will tend aphids and occasionally builds tents. Also found foraging on native trees, kola, oil palm and plantain (Taylor, 1977; Taylor & Adedoyin, 1978).

Listed from Guinea, at Mamou by F. Silvestri, by Wheeler (1922), also widely across sub-Saharan Africa.

Nests in dead twigs and under the bark on living trees.

Also found in Ghana, on cocoa mistletoe at the Mampong Cemetery farm (Room, 1971, 1975); and on cocoa at Kade (Majer, 1975) but not listed by Majer (1976b).

The photomontage is of a specimen from Benin, Bonou, Forêt de Ghamboué; N 06°22'28" E 02°31'32"; Pitfall trap; S Tchibozo; 27.viii.2006. The specimen was held in the jaws of a worker of Tapinoma modestum. Other images can be seen in the folder at -