Wasmannia affinis Santschi
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publication ID |
21284 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6237269 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/C78544AE-59A1-018F-9ADD-E297947D8205 |
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treatment provided by |
Christiana |
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scientific name |
Wasmannia affinis Santschi |
| status |
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Wasmannia affinis Santschi View in CoL HNS
Wasmannia affinis Santschi HNS , 1929: 300, fig. 25, 26. Holotype worker: Brazil, Parana, Rio Negro (Reichensperger) [ NHMB] (examined) .
Wasmannia sigmoidea Mayr HNS (part): Mayr, 1887: 622.
Taxonomic comments
Wasmannia affinis HNS and lutzi HNS are two related species from southeastern Brazil. They share a unique development of the antennal scrobe. The scrobe is very broad, forming a flat surface that extends from the frontal carinae to the side of the head. The side of the head is somewhat angular posterior to the eye. The preocular carina is faint and does not form the ventral border of the scrobe. In contrast, all other species of Wasmannia HNS have a more narrow scrobe that does not reach the side of the head in full face view. The ventral margin of the scrobe is limited by the preocular carina or, in cases where the carina is faint or absent, where it would be if it extended posterior to the eye. The side of the head behind the eye is rounded. The expanded scrobe is also present in the queen of lutzi HNS , resulting in a strongly trapezoidal head shape, such that the head is broader behind the eyes than across them. Wasmannia affinis HNS differs from lutzi HNS in (1) the propodeal spines are shorter, and (2) in dorsal view, the postpetiole is elliptical with rounded sides, and the widest point is at or behind the midlength.
Mayr described W. sigmoidea HNS in 1884, based on specimens from Cayenne (see below). Later (Mayr, 1887) he identified a series of specimens from Santa Catarina state in Brazil as W. sigmoidea HNS . One of us (JTL) examined these Santa Catarina specimens (they have a variety of labels, some indicating they are from Santa Catarina and collected by Hechko, some just saying “ Brazil 188, ” and some erroneously labeled as types of sigmoidea HNS ). The workers in the series are all very uniform and we suspect they are from a single original collection. These workers are not sigmoidea HNS , but instead match the holotype of Santschi ’ s affinis HNS .
In addition to the material above, we have examined three collections from Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo states in Brazil.
| NHMB |
Switzerland, Basel, Naturhistorisches Museum |
| NHMB |
Switzerland, Basel, Naturhistorisches Museum |
| NHMB |
Switzerland, Basel, Naturhistorisches Museum |
| NHMB |
Switzerland, Basel, Naturhistorisches Museum |
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.