Bannapone Xu, 2000

Eguchi, Katsuyuki, Viet, Bui Tuan, Yamane, Seiki & Terayama, Mamoru, 2015, Redefinition of the genus Bannapone and description of B. cryptica sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Amblyoponinae), Zootaxa 4013 (1), pp. 77-86 : 79

Redefinition of Bannapone Xu, 2000

The concept of the genus redefined by Guénard et al. (2013) is partly modified here.

Diagnosis of the worker and queen. Mandible elongate and slender; apical tooth forming an elongate and falcate apical blade; a preapical denticle often present near the apex of the blade; 2–5 blunt or truncate teeth arranged in a single row in the middle to basal part of the inner margin of mandible (mid-basal tooth row).

Worker ( B. caliginosa comb. nov., B. cryptica sp. nov., B. fulvida comb. nov., B. pertinax comb. nov., B. scrobiceps , B. zwaluwenburgi comb. nov.). Monomorphic; head in full-face view subrectangular, in lateral view flattened dorsoventrally ( Figs. 1 , 3); median furrow present in its posteriormost part of vertex or from frons to posterior border of vertex; anterolateral corner of head beside each mandibular insertion angular but not forming a tooth ( Fig. 1 ); preoccipital carina absent dorsally and laterally; frontal lobes present, narrowly separated by posteromedian portion of clypeus, or closely approximate to each other; frontal carina reaching vertex, or short and extending by no more than the length of frontal lobe; antennal scrobe faintly to moderately impressed; anterior margin of clypeus slightly to weakly convex, with 4–8 peg-like or teat-like setae that are based on tubercles (Fig. 5); mandible elongate and slender; apical tooth forming an elongate and falcate apical blade; a preapical denticle often present near the apex of the blade; 2–5 blunt or truncate teeth arranged in a single row in the middle to basal part of the inner margin of mandible (mid-basal tooth row); antennal socket concealed by frontal lobe; antenna 10- or 11-segmented (see Remarks); eye absent; mesosoma in lateral view almost flat dorsally or weakly convex dorsally; promesonotal suture present and flexible; mesonotum in dorsal view constricted; mesopleuron not subdivided into anepisternum and katepisternum; metanotal groove faint or absent on the dorsum of mesosoma; propodeum unarmed; orifice of propodeal spiracle round; propodeal lobe present but very low; petiole essentially sessile, broadly attached to abdominal segment III, in lateral view without a free posterior face; subpetiolar process lobate, producing anteroventrad, without translucent fenestra; abdominal segment III with free anterior face below helcium only; pygidium large, convex across, laterally and posteriorly unarmed; hypopygium not armed with a series of spines posteriorly; sting well developed.

Queen ( B. caliginosa comb. nov., B. cryptica sp. nov., B. mulanae ). The queen similar to the worker except in the following features: compound eye relatively well developed, situated behind midlength of side of head (Fig. 4); ocelli present; median ocellus in full-face view located at or a little behind the level of posterior margin of compound eye; peg-like setae and their basal tubercles on anterior clypeal margin well developed to much reduced; mesosoma fully segmented ( Figs. 9 , 11 ); mesoscutum without parapsidal and notaular lines; axillae separated from the remainder part of mesoscutum by inconspicuous scutal suture; scuto-scutellar suture distinct; mesopleuron not or partly subdivided into anepisternum and katepisternum; propodeum unarmed; orifice of propodeal spiracle round; propodeal lobe absent, or present but low, with a roundly convex outline.

Remarks. Concerning the antennal segmentation of the worker of B. zwaluwenburgi, Onoyama (1999) wrote, “the antennae of the paratype are 11-segmented, although in the Williams’ (1946) illustration the holotype has 12- segmented antennae (the present holotype bears no head)”.

The key to Vietnamese genera of the subfamily Amblyoponinae based on the worker caste given in Eguchi (2014) needs to be partly modified as below.

4 A few apical segments of antenna distinctly flattened (Figs. 19, 20)..................................... Myopopone - All of antennal segments terete, not flattened (Figs. 21, 22).................................................... 5 5 Middle to basal part of inner margin of mandible with triangular teeth arranged in two rows, or with more or less bifid teeth

arranged in a single row...................................................................... Stigmatomma - Middle to basal part of inner margin of mandible with 2–5 blunt or truncate teeth arranged in a single row....... Bannapone

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. B. cryptica sp. nov., head of a paratype worker (Fig. 1) and a paratype queen (Fig. 2) in full-face view.

FIGURES 8 – 9. B. cryptica sp. nov., thorax and abdomen of the holotype worker (Fig. 8) and a paratype queen (Fig. 9) in lateral view.

FIGURES 10 – 11. B. cryptica sp. nov., thorax and abdomen of the holotype worker (Fig. 10) and a paratype queen (Fig. 11) in dorsal view.