Vollenhovia brevicornis (Emery, 1893)

Vollenhovia fridae Forel, 1923, worker, Sumatra, syn. nov.

Material examined. Mandai Road, 1.41258, 103.79839, 16-18 Nov 2016, G.W. Yong leg., ZRC _HYM_0001711-1712; Mandai Lake Road, Northern Node, 1°24’36.5”N, 103°47’04.0”, 53 m, 18 Jul 2019, J.S. Tan & N.L. Chin leg., leaf litter, Winkler extraction, ZRC _ ENT00028311 ; Bukit Timah forest, 3 Sep 1964, D.H. Murphy leg., A-292-10, DHM-SG64- Voll 1, ZRC _ ENT00027927 ; locality unknown, 14 Apr 1993, Sk. Yamane leg. (SKYC) .

Material not physically examined. Unknown.

Literature. None. New record.

Localities. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve; Mandai Lake Road; Mandai Road.

Habitat/Ecology. This species was found in primary and/or native-dominated old or mature secondary forests, sometimes on tree trunks, but mainly from leaf litter and upper topsoil substrate.

Remarks. We have carefully compared the Sumatran specimens (workers) of ‘ Vollenhovia fridae ’ with the images and original description of V. brevicornis (described in Monomorium), and concluded that these are the same species. Singaporean specimens examined well agree with V. brevicornis and ‘ V. fridae ’. Although these are slightly smaller than the Sumatran specimens, in this species the worker caste is highly variable in size. This species appears almost identical to the Sulawesi species Vollenhovia pertinax (Smith, 1861) that was much earlier described than V. brevicornis, but we need more information and material to decide the status of these two forms (see also Remarks for Vollenhovia penetrans Smith, 1857).