Odontomachus emeryi Mann, 1959

Wilson EO, 1959, Studies on the ant fauna of Melanesia V. The tribe Odontomachini., Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 120, pp. 483-510 : 492

Odontomachus emeryi Mann , n. status

(Fig. 4, no. 5)

Odontomachus imperator subsp. emeryi Mann , 1919, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 63:303, fig. 12, worker, queen, male. Type locality: Maliali, Florida, Solomon Islands. (Syntypes examined - MCZ.)

Material examined. SOLOMON ISLANDS : Maliali, Florida (syntypes) ; Fulakora, Santa Isabel (syntypes) ; Torokina R" Bougainville (B. D. Valentine) ; Kokure, 690 m., Bougainville (E. J. Ford); Boku, Bougainville (Ford).

Taxonomic notes. This species is very similar to the widespread 0. saevissimus of western Melanesia and in fact may be no more than a geographic variant of it. Emeryi differs in its distinctive coloration and convex posterior border of petiolar node. A single worker of saevissimus from New Ireland appears to be both geographically and morphologically intermediate . It has a petiolar node like that of emeryi , but the body coloration is typical of saevissimus . Unfortunately, the head of this interesting specimen is missing.

Ecological notes. Mann made the following observations on the type colonies : ' ' They were in dense forest ; the nests were in the ground among the roots of trees and contained large numbers of workers. The workers are less active than haematoda [= simillimus ] and not as aggressive." E. J. Ford, Jr., collected winged queens from a nest at Kokure on June 12, 1956.