Anochetus bequaerti Forel

Type location Zaïre (Forel, 1913b: 309, worker); junior synonyms abstracta (Santschi, 1914e: worker) from South Africa, estus (Wheeler, 1922: 98, worker) and opaciventris (Wheeler, 1922: 98, worker), both from the stomachs of toads, in Zaïre, at Akenge, by Lang & Chapin (synonymized by Brown, 1978c: 556); all forms described (Bolton, 1995) .

Forel's (1913b) description is at . Santschi's (1914e) description of abstracta is at . Arnold's (1915: 104) translation of Forel (1913) and descriptions of the male and female are at . Brown's (1978c: 556) description is at .

WORKER (drawn specimen from Nigeria) TL 4.56 mm, HL 1.00, HW 1.00, SL 1.00 and PW 0.59
Eyes large, length 0.25 mm. Overall colour castaneous, lighter on head, legs pale yellow and shiny. Dorsum of head finely striate. Alitrunk finely rugose. Apex of petiolar node transversely rectangular. In addition to his diagnostic features, this was described by Brown (1978c) as an extremely variable species, closely related to africanus. Sizes ranging from HL 1.25 to 1.75 mm.

The drawn specimen, collected in Nigeria, from a rotten log by Bolton at CRIN, appears to match what Brown (1978c) described as a "puzzling variant, very small in size...., with relatively large eyes". He thought the anomalous worker could just be a hybrid, or an undescribed species, but that it was most likely "just another manifestation of the extreme variability".

From Guinea, Bernard (1952) listed one queen, from Station B 8-10, Zouépo, forest, 1215 m.

Brown reported specimens from Gabon, and Ivory Coast, at Lamto (J. Lévieux).

Collected in Ghana by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b), who described it as widespread (43 workers from 9 sites, plus 2 workers in soil samples) in their leaf litter samples from the semi-deciduous forest zone.

The photomontage is of the specimen, in the AMNH, described as the holotype of estus by Wheeler (1922), at http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0003146.
Collection details - Locality: RSA: ; Akengi(e), Congo; 02°55'N 26°50'E. Collection Information: Collection codes: ANTC1091. Date: ?. Collected by: H.O.Lang. Habitat: stomach Bufo funereus.

The photomontage is of a specimen from Benin; Collection details - Bonou, Forêt de Ghamboué; N 06°22'28" E 02°31'32"; Pitfall trap; S Tchibozo; 27.viii.2006. Brown (1978c) referred to a more brightly coloured form from the West African forests. Other images can be seen in the folder at -

The photomontage is of a queen from Ghana, collected by S Sky Stephens, 2006. Other images can be seen in the folder at -