Genus Asphinctopone Santschi (1914d: 318)

In Tribe PONERINI.

Diagnostic Features - Mandibles somewhat elongated, armed with five teeth, the basal internal margin with a distinct notch. Clypeus bluntly carinate, with the median portion projecting as a rectangular lobe. Eyes reduced. Frontal lobes present. Dorsum of alitrunk with promesonotal suture and metanotal groove distinct, the latter very deeply impressed. Declivity of propodeum steep, marginate on sides and top. Petiole a high, narrow scale, unarmed but the posterior peduncle with a number of distinct raised transverse ridges (Bernard, 1952, gave this ridging as distinct to lamottei, hence his separation as Lepidopone (synonymised, however, by Brown, 1953h). Subpetiolar process complex, with three prominences. Gaster without a constriction, but with a large anteroventral process on the first segment (Santschi, 1914d: 318). Santschi's (1914d) genus description is at . Brown's (1953h: 2) consideration is at . He had not examined any of the type specimens.

Bolton (1973a) gave it as a monotypic genus, the species being Asphinctopone silvestrii Santschi; and mentions finding specimens from a black-rotten, very wet banana trunk near Ibadan. However, Bolton had not sighted the work of Bernard at that time, and a picture of another species, Asphinctopone lucidus from Zaïre is shown by Hölldobler & Wilson, (1990, page 83). They listed it as a valid genus but use of the key (by Bolton) in their book ends with "33. Pachycondyla (in part)" and Asphinctopone is not reached. It is listed, however, by Bolton (1994, 1995). Asphinctopone lucidus Weber (1949) is known from the Central African Republic. Bernard (1952) noted it as being more like lamottei, but with a simple petiole and the scape surpassing the vertex.

Species known from Africa - historical separations

1	Antennal scapes exceeding the occiput; TL 3.5 mm; uniformly bright ferruginous	Central African Republic - Asphinctopone lucidus
--	Antennal scapes fail to reach the occiput	2
2	propodeum more steeply declivitous, petiolar scale relatively thick; TL 3.7 mm; yellow rust	Nigeria - Asphinctopone silvestrii -
--	Petiole scale narrow and high; propodeal declivity not near vertical with widely rounded transition from dorsum; TL 3.3 mm; entirely dark red-brown, shiny, extremities yellow-red, petiole scale yellowish	West Africa & Congo Basin - Asphinctopone lamottei -

Bolton & Fisher (2008) http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/zt01827p061.pdf) have reviewed the genus, examining the types of lamottei and lucidus, but not of silvestrii which appears to be lost. They synonymized those three under silvestrii and added a new species Asphinctopone differens [page held in abeyance] with a single holotype specimen separable from silvestrii by having "the propodeum in profile with a pelt of erect, weakly curved pubescence. Side of propodeum entirely densely irregularly sculptured".

It has to be said that their arguments for the synonymization of the three older species, whilst apparently strong, tend to diminish the reported differences, e.g. in the propodeum profile, scape length, etc, and ignore the disparities in the full face drawings of the head. They then offer limited, and, from their photographs, certainly not strongly obvious differences to justify the delineation of differens. The range of photographs on http://www.antweb.org/description.do?rank=species&name=silvestrii&genus=asphinctopone&project=, indeed shows quite a lot of variation between specimens all labelled silvestrii.