Aenictus eugenii Emery

Type location South Africa (Emery, 1895h: 17, worker, illustrated) from Bothaville; junior synonym kenyensis (Santschi, 1933b: 100, worker; synonymy by Gotwald & Cunningham-van Someren, 1976: 183, also queen) from Kenya; subspecies caroli (Forel, 1910c: 248, worker) from Ethiopia; and henrii (Santschi, 1924b: 204, worker) from Zaïre; worker & queen described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Emery's (1895h) description is at . Santschi's (1924b) description of henrii is at . Santschi's (1933b) description of kenyensis is at .

See the description of villiersi below for comparison details (from Bernard, 1953) - "with eugenii (known from South Africa) the petiole segments are angular dorsally, shagreened or puncturated, both segments having a ventral anterior tooth and a posterior pedicel which is cylindrical and puncturated".

Amended translation taken from Arnold (1915: 139), plus his notes -
(Plate IV., fig. 38, right) Emery, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, vol. 63, p. 48, worker , 1895.

Worker - TL 3.7-4 mm. Larger and. much darker than rotundatus, and. varying less in size than that species. The colour is a bright castaneous red, lighter on the abdomen. The legs are yellowish red, the sides of the thorax below, and the mandibles, brownish red.

This species closely resembles rotundatus, differing from it only in the following characters. The pilosity is less abundant, but more regularly distributed and longer. The head is distinctly wider in front than behind. The masticatory margin of the mandible is smooth and edentate, or, in some specimens with traces of three minute teeth behind the apical tooth, which is blunter than in rotundatus. The antennae are rather longer, the scape almost reaching back to the occipital margin, and all the joints of the funiculus are distinctly longer than wide. The thorax is rather narrower, and less compressed between the mesonotum and propodeum. The latter is strongly reticulate-punctate, as are also the sides of the mesonotum, the whole of the 1st joint of the petiole, and the sides of the 2nd. The puncturation is decidedly larger and more distinct than in rotundatus. The posterior corners of the pronotum also show a slight puncturation. The dorsal surface of the 2nd joint of the petiole is nearly smooth and rather shining. The limits of the dorsum and the declivity of the propodeum are clearly defined, as the brow forms a sharp overhanging edge, so that the declivity also appears somewhat concave. The 1st node of the petiole is a little narrower, more parallel-sided and less convex above than in rotundatus. Legs longer and more slender, the 1st tarsal joint of the hind legs as long as the tibiae.

Bothaville, Orange Free State. (Brauns.) Makapan. (Simon.) Bulawayo.

This species was taken on one occasion near Bulawayo in large numbers, marching in single file and carrying larvae from under one large stone to another. Amongst these workers there was found a monstrosity. This specimen has but one joint to the petiole, which is fused on the whole of its anterior surface to the propodeum, which consequently shows no declivity, and is moreover very lop-sided. (S.A.M., R.M., G.A. colls.)

The photomontage is of a specimen from Tanzania, collector S Uehara, Mahale, 9.xi.2002, collection III-59.

Other images can be seen in the folder at -