The Ants of Africa
Genus Pyramica
Pyramica (Serrastruma) serrula (Santschi)
{Pyramica serrula}

Pyramica (Serrastruma) serrula (Santschi)

return to key {link to the Hymenoptera Name Server} Type location Congo (Strumigenys serrula, Santschi, 1910c: 390, worker; raised to species, Santschi, 1911c: 361) collected at Brazzaville, by A. Weiss; junior synonym uelensis (Santschi, 1923: 289, illustrated, worker) from Zaïre, collected at Haut Uélé, by L. Burgeon, xi.1919; (see Bolton, 1995) .

Santschi's (1910c & 1911c) descriptions are at {original description}. Santschi's (1923) description of uelensis is at {original description}. Bolton's modern description (1983: 349, illustrated) is at {original description}.


{Pyramica (Serrastruma) serrula} Nigeria specimen (as Serrastruma species Bolton collected, Taylor, 1979: 47). WORKER. TL 1.96 mm, HL 0.45, HW 0.36, SL 0.26, PW 0.25. Entire body, except the gaster and central area of lateral mesonotum, reticulopunctate, coarsest on the head. Erect hairs few, most being on the gaster, relatively long, narrow and clavate. Appressed narrow clavate hairs on the dorsal head and alitrunk. Long sinuous hairs at the humeral angles and on the head above the eyes. Colour dull yellow to yellowish-brown.
The specimen drawn was collected by me at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Idi Ayunre in 1975 but the details were mislaid. Bolton collected it at Gambari from a tree stump and from under bark of a dead log, although he did not list his findings in the 1983 review.

From Ghana listed by Bolton (1983) as known from CRIG (himself) and Mampong (P.M. Room). the latter is in Room (1971) from leaf litter under cocoa at the Mampong Cemetery farm. A single worker was collected by pkd from Amelonado cocoa canopy at CRIG by Bigger (1981a). Since described as widespread (823 workers from 16 sites) in their leaf litter samples in the semi-deciduous forest zone by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).

Cameroun records given by Bolton (1983), at Nko'emvon (D.A. Jackson) and near Yaoundé (G. Terron). Its feeding habits, on entomobryomorph collembolans, were described by Déjean (1980), also from Cameroun.

Other West African records are Ivory Coast, at Bingerville and Tai Forest (V. Mahnert & J.-L. Perret), Lamto (J. Lévieux), Anguédédou Forest and Banco Forest (W.L. Brown), and Divo (L. Brader). Also from Chad, at Haut Mbomu (N.A. Weber).

Widespread elsewhere in Central Africa.

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