Pachycondyla sikorae, Rakotonirina, J. C. & Fisher, B. L., 2013

Rakotonirina, J. C. & Fisher, B. L., 2013, Revision of the Pachycondyla sikorae species-group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Madagascar, Zootaxa 3683 (4), pp. 447-485 : 451-452

Pachycondyla sikorae was first described as a subgenus ( Euponera ) of Ponera by Forel 1891: 127. The new subgenus Euponera was later raised to genus ( Emery, 1901:46) and by 1911, included a heterogenous group of species placed in four subgenera: Euponera , Mesoponera , Brachyponera , and Trachymesopus ( Emery 1911: 79- 86). Brown in Bolton (1994) synonymized the genus as a junior synonym of Pachycondyla , which is where it remains today though molecular results suggest that Pachycondyla is paraphyletic ( Ward 2011; Schmidt 2013).

Detailed taxonomic history of Euponera modified from AntCat.org 2013:

Euponera Forel, 1891: 126 [as subgenus of Ponera ] Type-species: Ponera sikorae , by monotypy.

Euponera in Ponerinae , Ponerini : Emery, 1895: 767; Emery, 1911: 79 [subtribe Pachycondylini ]; Wheeler, 1915: 37; Arnold, 1915: 63; Forel, 1917: 237; Wheeler, 1922: 648; all subsequent authors.

Euponera as subgenus of Ponera : Forel, 1891: 126; Emery, 1895: 767.

Euponera as genus: Emery, 1901: 46; Emery, 1909: 364; Wheeler, 1910: 135; Emery, 1911: 79; Arnold, 1915: 63; Forel, 1917: 237; Gallardo, 1918: 64; Wheeler, 1922: 648; Borgmeier, 1923: 70; Clark, 1934: 30; Creighton, 1950: 44; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 63; Bernard, 1953: 189; Wheeler & Wheeler, 1985: 256; Dlussky & Fedoseeva, 1988: 78; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990: 11.

Euponera as junior synonym of Pachycondyla : Brown, in Bolton, 1994: 164; Bolton, 2003: 166.

Checklist of the Malagasy P. sikorae species-group

sikorae complex:

gorogota Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

haratsingy Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

ivolo Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

maeva Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

mialy Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

nosy Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

sikorae Forel1891

vohitravo complex:

agnivo Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

antsiraka Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

daraina Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

rovana Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

tahary Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

vohitravo Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.

zoro Rakotonirina and Fisher , sp. n.