Notes from
                        Underground


 
Material Needed


     I am doing revisionary studies of two Indo-Australian ant genera, Myopias (Ponerinae) and Echinopla (Formicinae) and would like to borrow any material available, whether mounted or in preservative.
     Myopias species vary from about 3mm long to about 15mm and resemble the allied genus Pachycondyla, but the mandibles of most species are elongate and narrow and are provided with four well separated teeth; the clypeus has an medial, apical projection that is usually narrow, but may be short and broad. Many species are specialized predators on millipedes. Nests may be in soil, but more commonly are found in damp rotten wood.
Myopias side
Myopias head
 
 
      Echinopla are robust ants that resemble somewhat the genus Polyrhachis; the petiole scale is broad and provided with 4-6 teeth; the dorsal surface of the gaster is comprised almost entirely of the first gastral tergum. Echinopla nests in decaying branches on trees, but fragments are often found in wood that has fallen to the ground.



Roy R. Snelling
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
email: antmanrs@nhm.org


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Date of this version 31, August 2002
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