Polyrhachis (Chariomyrma) opalescens

Clark, J., 1930, New Formicidae, with notes on some little-known species., Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 43, pp. 2-25 : 11-12

Polyrhachis (Chariomyrma) opalescens , n. sp. (Text-fig. 1. Nos. 9, 9a.) Worker.- -Length, 5-6 mm. Black, but so densely clothed with reddish green opalescent matter as to give it an iridescent brownish sheen.

Shining. Head and mandibles finely longitudinally striate. Thorax more coarsely so. Declivity of the epinotum transversely striate. Node smooth. Gaster very finely and densely reticulate.

Hair yellowish, very long and erect, abundant throughout, shorter and suberect on the antennae and legs. Pubescence very fine and adpressed.

Head longer than broad, convex behind and on the sides. Frontal carinae swerving outward at the middle. Clypeus carinate, broadly produced in front, feebly dentate, the angles sharp. Eyes large and convex, placed at the posterior third of the sides. Scapes extending beyond the occipital border by one-half their length; first segment of the funiculus one-fourth longer than the second, the others sub-equal to the apical. Mandibles broad, armed with five large sharp teeth. Thorax one and one-fifth ttmes longer than broad. Pronotum one and two-third times broader than long, much broader in front than behind, the sides strongly convex, the anterior angles bluntly produced, the anterior border and sides marginate. Mesonotum twice as broad in front as long, the sides convex, marginate. The suture between the mesonotum and epinotum feebly defined, the latter twice as broad as long, furnished with two long slender spines directed backward and outward, as long as their distance apart at the base, on the side of the •epinotum, between the spines and base, is a broad angular projection. In profile the dorsum and declivity united without traces of a boundary, the spines feebly inclined upward near the base, then horizontal. Node thin, furnished with two long slender spines encircling the gaster; between these, on the dorsum, is a short, blunt tooth directed upward; in profile the node is much thicker below than above, the spines almost straight. Gaster slightly longer than broad. Legs robust.

Habitat.-New Hebrides: Banaka (W. W. Froggatt).