Amblyopone pluto Gotwald & Lévieux

Type location Ivory Coast (Gotwald & Lévieux, 1972: 384) type-nest (J. Lévieux, 16.viii.1965) and four other samples all from Lamto; one colony had distinctly smaller individuals; all forms described. Listed in Hölldobler & Wilson (1990, page 559) .

Gotwald & Levieux's (1972) description is at .

WORKER - TL 5.66-6.38 mm; head only slightly longer than broad, not broadened anteriorly; mandibles less linear than usual for the genus; clypeus concave medially, descending sharply from area between frontal lobes and bearing a row (9-11) of conspicuous elongate tubercles; head and alitrunk black to dark reddish-brown; antennae, genae, clypeus and frontal carinae of head and ventrolateral alitrunk often lighter; petiole sometimes black dorsally; gaster dark brown to reddish-orange (Gotwald & Lévieux, 1972: 384, fully illustrated, all forms).

Quite detailed investigations were made by Gotwald & Lévieux (1972). Its distribution seems to be limited to unburnt areas of the humid savannah, and it is not found in the forest. Nests were some 15 cm down in the ground, in black clay soil with thick litter cover, with a colony size of some 30-40 adults. Extensive feeding experiments showed that the only food source was species of Chilopoda (geophilomorph centipedes), these appeared to be attacked only when alive. In starvation conditions cannibalism of larvae was found.

The photomontage of the type specimen is collated from the Antweb.org site at http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0101443

The photomontage is collated from images at www.discoverlife.org - originals by Gary Alpert, Harvard University; Ivory Coast specimens.