Tetraponera andrei
Creators: name: Ward, Philip S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Tetraponera
Tetraponera andrei

description: Tetraponera andrei (Mayr)
(Figs 23, 41)
Sima Andrei Mayr 1895: 144. Holotype worker (by monotypy), Delagoa Bay, Mozambique (Brauns) (NHMV) [examined]. Imaged on AntWeb: CASENT0915848.
Sima (Sima) andrei Mayr; Arnold 1916: 179. Combination in Sima (Sima).
Tetraponera andrei (Mayr); Wheeler 1922b: 796. Combination in Tetraponera.
Tetraponera andrei (Mayr); Chomicki et al. 2015: figure S1. Placement in molecular phylogeny.
Worker measurements (n = 8). HW 1.03–1.15, HL 1.14–1.30, LHT 0.74–0.85, CI 0.89–0.95, FCI 0.17–0.19, REL 0.50–0.56, REL2 0.53–0.59, SI 0.46–0.50, SI3 0.81–0.91, FI 0.45–0.50, PLI 0.75–0.86, PWI 0.69–0.81, LHT/HW 0.71–0.74, CSC 0–2, MSC 0–3.
Worker diagnosis. Moderate-sized species, with broad head (CI 0.89–0.95) and large eyes (REL 0.50–0.56); posterior margin of eye attaining the level of the lateral ocelli; frontal carinae widely separated, the minimum distance between them almost one-fifth of head width (FCI 0.17–0.19) and more than one-third of scape length (MFC/ SL 0.35–0.40); scapes relatively short (SI 0.46–50), less than eye length (SI3 0.81–0.91); anterior clypeal margin almost straight (slightly emarginate medially) and weakly crenulate (Fig. 23a); profemur robust (FI 0.45–0.50); mesonotum bounded posteriorly by a well marked, longitudinally rugulose impression; metanotal plate lacking; dorsal face of propodeum flattened, laterally submarginate, longer than declivitous face and rounding insensibly into the latter; petiole relatively short and high (see PLI and PWI values), dorsolaterally marginate, and with an anteroventral tooth; in profile, petiolar node with steep anterodorsal and posterodorsal faces, rounding insensibly into one another (Fig. 23b); postpetiole broader than long. Head and mesosoma densely punctulate-coriarious, matte. Standing pilosity very sparse (CSC 0–2, MSC 0–3), absent from petiole and postpetiole, the few erect setae relatively long, and distinct from the inconspicuous, short pubescence. Dark brownish-black, the mandibles, antennae, tibiae and tarsi lighter.
Comments. Within the T. natalensis group this species is easily recognized by its small worker size (HW 1.03–1.15), large eyes, short and strongly marginate petiole (PL/HW 0.50–0.55), dark color, and sparse standing pilosity. Workers of the most closely similar species, T. anthracina, are larger (worker HW 1.40–1.54), have more closely adjacent frontal carinae (FCI 0.14–0.16), lack a rugulose transverse impression at the posterior margin of the mesonotum, and have standing pilosity on the petiole and postpetiole (2–4 and 2–6 standing hairs, respectively).
Distribution and biology. Tetraponera andrei is an East African species of rather limited distribution, being known only from Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya. Workers have been collected foraging on foliage and tree trunks, in semi-dry habitats. One nest collection is known, from a dead twig (BLF37780).
Material examined (CASC, MCZC, NHMW, PSWC, SAMC, UCDC). Kenya: Lamu: Waboniland (c.u.); Mozambique: Cabo Delgado: P.N. Quirimbas, Taratibu, 505 m (Fisher, B. L.; et al.); Maputo: Delagoa Bay (Brauns); Tanzania: Kilimanjaro: Mkomazi Game Reserve, Dindera Dam (van Noort, S.); Morogoro: Morogoro (Loveridge, A.); Pwani: Mafia Is. (Vesey-Fitzgerald); Tanga: Kange, near Tanga, 50 m (Ward, P. S.).
description: Published as part of Ward, Philip S., 2022, The ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Afrotropical region: taxonomic review and key to species, pp. 1-70 in Zootaxa 5102 (1) on page 46, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5102.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6245602