W. M. Wheeler.
A New Species of Aphomomyrmex from Borneo.
Psyche 17:131-134, 1910.

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Wheeler -Aphomomyrmea; from Borneo
A NEW SPECIES OF APHOMOMYRMEX FROM B0RNEO.l Among the Camponotine ants of the Old World tropics there are two remarkable genera, Aphomomyrmex and Dimorphomyrmex, con- cerning which comparatively little is known. Aphomomyrmex was based by Emery2 on A. afer from Kamerun, represented by male, female and worker specimens. He was in some doubt as to whether the worker, which had nine-jointed antennas, was cospecific with the female and male, in both of which the antennae were ten-jointed. He regarded the genus as allied to the neotropical Myrmelachista Roger, which comprises a number of species, with nine- to ten- jointed antennae, and to Dimorphomyrmex Ern. Andre, which is represented by D. janeti described by Ern. Andre from Borneo3 and D. theryi subsequently discovered by Emery in the Baltic amber.4 Myrmelachista differs from Aphomomyrmex in having a differ- entiated antenna1 club in the worker and female, better developed frontal carinse and more laterally placed eyes, while Dimorphomyr- mex is peculiar in possessing large, reniform eyes in the worker and presumably also in the female, which is still unknown. D. janeti, according to Andre, has dimorphic workers, a large form (soldier) measuring 6 mm., with ocelli and a large, oblong head, and a small form (worker proper), measuring only 3.5 mm., without ocelli and with a proportionately shorter head. Emery says that he has seen a worker of this species from Sumatra measuring 4.5 mm. and therefore intermediate in size between the soldier and worker of Janet. This observation seems to indicate, as Emery has'asserted, that the worker is really polymorphic in D. janeti. Through the
kindness of Prof. R. Klebs and Prof. A. Tournquist I have been able 1Contributions from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institution, Harvard University. No. 25.
Fourmia d'Afrique, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. XLIII, 1899, pp. 493-496. 3 Voyage de M. Chaper a Borneo. Catalogue des Fourmis et Description des Espfeces Nouvelles. Mfem. Soc. Zo6l. France, V, 1892, pp. 49-51. Deux Fourmis de l'ambre de la Baltique. Bull. Soc. Ent. France, 1905, No. 13, pp. 188-189.




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132 Psyche [August
to examine quite a number of specimens of D. theryi of the Baltic amber, but all of these were monomorphic. In 1894 Emery described a female ant from Borneo as Dimor- phomyrmex andre9 with eight-jointed antennas, but he concluded that this was an Aphomomyrmex after he had seen A. afer. Each of the two genera is therefore represented by two species, as follows: Dimorphomyrmex Ern. Andrd.
1. D. janeti Ern. Andre, Mem. Soc. Zool. France, 1892, pp. 49-51, Figs. 4 and 5, soldier, worker; Emery, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. XLIII., 1899, p. 494, nota, worker ; Borneo ; Sumatra.
2. D. theryi Emery, Bull. Soc. Ent. France, 1905, p. 188, Fig. 1, ? ; Baltic amber.
Aphomomyrmex Emery.
1. A. afer Emery, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. XLIII., 1899, pp. 493-4.96, 1 fig. worker, ? d ; Kamerun.
2. A. andrei Emery. Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. XLIII., 1899, p. 894, ?= Dimor- phomyrmex andrei Emery, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1894, p. 73, ? ; Paulo-Laut, Borneo.
Among some Bornean ants collected and recently sent me by Mr. John Hewitt of the Transvaal Museum, I find two females and several workers of a third species of Aphomomyrmex of which I subjoin a description.
Aphomomyrmex hewitti sp. nov. (Fig. 1.)
Worker maxima. Length 3-3.5 mm.
Head flat, nearly as convex below as above, subrectangular, longer than broad, with straight subparallel sides, rounded posterior and blunt anterior corners. Eyes small, elliptical, flat, placed near the middle of the sides of the head and not on its upper surface. Ocelli present in some specimens but very small. Clypeus large, feebly convex behind, depressed in front, its anterior border rounded in the middle, not projecting, its posterior border not projecting back between the frontal carinse to any appreciable extent. Frontal carinse very small and short, the distance between them little more than half the distance between each of them and the corresponding lateral border of the head. Frontal area obsolete, frontal groove tenuous, but dis- tinct. Mandibles small, with parallel internal and external borders and four sub-equal teeth; outer border with a blunt tooth near the base. Antennae 8-jointed, short; scapes rather slender, straight, reaching only a short dis- tance behind the eyes; first funicular joint slender, twice as long as broad, remaining joints slightly enlarged towards the tip of the antenna; joints 1Descriptions de deux fourmis nouvelles. Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1894, p. 73.




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19101 Wheeler -Aphomomyrmex from Borneo 133 2-6 as broad as long, terminal joint shorter than the three preceding joints together. Thorax thickset, depressed, as long but not as broad as the head, broader in front than behind. Promesonotal and mesoepinotal sutures dis, tinct; mesonoturn soniewhat higher than the pronotum, feebly convex, form- ing a regular transverse ellipse. Mesoepinotal constriction short but dis- tinct, its bottom formed by the mesoepinotal suture only. Epinotum a
little broader than long, with feebly rounded sides, its base very short and horizontal, passing through a rounded angle into the much longer, sloping and flattened declivity. Petiole somewhat lower than the epinotum and only about one-third as broad, as long as high and wide, with an erect, trans- verse node, which has flat anterior and posterior surfaces and a rounded Fig. 1. Worker
worker media,
maxima of Aphomomyrmex hewitti sp. nov.; heads of worker minima and female, all drawn to the same scale. upper surface. Gaster very broadly elliptical, smaller than the head, flat- tened dorsoventrally, with well-developed anal cilia. Legs long and robust; fore femora somewhat incrassated ; claws and empodia large. Body shining. Mandibles, clypeus and cheeks subopaque, punctate and finely striate, except the middle of the clypeus, which is opaque and coarsely punctate. Head sparsely, thorax and gaster more densely punctate and less glabrous.
Hairs yellowish, rather long and abundant, erect or suberect on all parts of the body and appendages, including the antenna1 funiculi. Pubescence yellowish, sparse and rather long, distinct on the thorax and gaster only in certain lights.




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134 Psyche [August
Dark brown or black; mandibles, cheeks and clypeus deep red; articula- tions of legs and thorax, antennal funiculi and tarsi more yellowish. Worker media. Length 2.8 mm.
Closely resembling the worker maxima, but the head is somewhat smaller and distinctly narrowed anteriorly, and the clypeus and cheeks are less deeply punctate and striate and therefore more shining. Ocelli absent. Antenna1 scapes reaching about half way between the eyes and the pos- terior corners of the head. Tooth on the external border of the mandibles obsolescent.
Worker minima. Length 2 mm.
Resembling the worker media, but the head is smaller, only a little longer than broad, as broad in front as behind, with feebly rounded sides, straight posterior border and rounded posterior corners. Ocelli absent. Clypeus convex and shining, its sides and the cheeks scarcely striate. Mandibles small, without a tooth on their external borders. Joints 2-6 of the antennal funiculi a little broader than long; scapes reaching half way between the eyes and the posterior corners of the head. Thorax not constricted in the mesoepinotal region above. Gaster as large as the head. Mandibles, clypeus, antennae and petiole yellowish like the articulations of the legs and thorax.
Female. Length 6-7 mm.
Body long and narrow. Head like that of the worker maxima but larger and with much larger eyes and well-developed ocelli. Clypeus very flat,
Antennae 8-jointed; scapes reaching about one-third the distance from the eyes to the posterior corners of the head. Second funicular joint as long ' as the first, which is fully twice as long as broad; joints 3-6 subequal, fully as long as broad and not increasing in width distally, terminal joint shorter than the two preceding joints together. Thorax as broad as the head, but twice as long, from above regularly elongate-elliptical, dorsally depressed, evenly and feebly rounded. Sides of neck much swollen and projecting anteriorly. Mesonotum and scutellum each somewhat broader than long; epinotum very feebly rounded above, uniformly sloping, without distinct base and declivity. Petiole nearly as high as the epinotum, as long as high and broad, its node thick and cuboidal in profile, seen from above trans- versely elliptical. Gaster elongate elliptical, nearly as large as the thorax. Legs long and stout, with large claws and empodia. Wings moderately long (6 mm.) ; venation as in Playiolepis. Sculpture and pilosity like those of the worker maxima. Black; mandibles (except the teeth), clypeus, antennae, tarsi, metanotum, anterior border of scutellum, articulations of the thorax, wings and legs, red; wings uniformly infuscated, with brown veins and blackish stigma. Described from two females, six maxima workers, one media and one minina, taken by Mr. John Hewitt at Bidi, Borneo, during August, 1907, "in the swollen internode of a shrub." This remark,



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