SUBFAMILY FORMICINAE - Genus Pseudolasius
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The Ants of Africa SUBFAMILY FORMICINAE - Genus Pseudolasius |
| Contents - Formicinae - FORMICINAE Introduction |
In Tribe LASIINI, previously PRENOLEPIDINI.
Diagnostic Features - Polymorphic. Antennae 12-segmented; with their insertions virtually confluent with the posterior clypeal margin. Mandibles with five-six teeth, some with 7-8 teeth, set upon an oblique border. Palpi short. Major workers with small eyes, on the dorsum of the head, at or near the midlength. Minors without eyes. Petiole a scale which may be inclined forwards. Dorsal surfaces without distinct paired hairs.
Bolton (1973a) describes them as small depigmented to yellowish ants, nesting in or under very rotten wood, or in the soil at the base of trees. Normally avoid light but can be found on the soil surface at night. Bernard (1952) stated that 6 species were known from Africa and thought that they might well be common in the subsoil; adding that they raise Homoptera on roots in the same way as Lasius ants in Europe.
Emery's (1887a) genus definition is at
.
Menozzi's (1924b) key is on 
.
Note - the following paper appears to alter the situation
LaPolla, John S. (2004) Taxonomic review of the ant genus Pseudolasius
(Formicidae:Formicinae) in the Afrotropical region. Journal of the New
York Entomological Society, 112, (2-3) 2004. 97-105.
The ant genus Pseudolasius in the Afrotropical region is
reviewed. Two species are considered valid, P. bufonus and P.
weissi, and diagnostic morphological characters are provided for each.
Scanning electron micrographs are provided for each species, and the male
genitalia of P. bufonus are illustrated for the first time. Four
species are synomized with P. weissi: P. bayonii new
synonym, P. bucculentus new synonym, P. gowdeyi new
synonym, and P. weissi sordidus new synonym.
Dept Entomol, Smithsonian Inst, MRC 188, POB 37012, Washington, DC,
20013, USA.
Key to workers (adapted from Menozzi, 1924b)
| 1 | Without visible eyes | 2 |
| -- | With vestigial eyes of 1-4 ommatidia | 3 |
| 2 |  Head
truncated posteriorly; alitrunk with shallowly impressed metanotal
suture; petiole with short peduncle and squamose scale; TL major 2.5 mm,
minor 1.8-2 mm |
gowdeyi |
| -- |  Head
rounded posteriorly; alitrunk with deep metanotal suture; petiole with
long peduncle and thick scale; TL major 2.7-3.0 mm |
bayonii |
| 3 |  Scape
reaching the occiput, colour testaceous or duller (var sordidus);
TL major ca 3 mm, minor ca 2.5 mm |
weissi |
| -- | Scape falling short of the occiput by at least its own width | 4 |
| 4 |  Head
with occiput deeply impressed; alitrunk profile concave between
mesonotum and propodeum; petiole scale high; TL major 3.2 mm, minor
2.2-2.5 mm |
bucculentus |
| -- |  Head
with occiput only shallowly impressed and with sides subparallel;
alitrunk slender, only shallowly concave between mesonotum and
propodeum; petiole scale low more or less overhung by the gaster; TL
major 2.8-3.0 mm, minor 2.5-3.0 mm |
bufonus |
Unassignable forms
Bernard (1952) noted from Mt. Nimba, Guinea, a single small eyeless worker (labelled Nimba, Lamotte), with a squarer head and more claviform antenna than the known species, but declined to define a new species on the basis of a sole minor worker.
Many workers were found in Ghana, in leaf litter (270) and soil samples (4) under primary forest at Bobiri, a logged area at Atewa Forest Reserve, primary and secondary forest at Bunso, and under cocoa at Ofinso, by Belshaw & Bolton (1994).
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Subfamily Formicinae | © 2007 - Brian Taylor CBiol
FIBiol FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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