Chronoxenus butteli (Forel) Heterick & Shattuck, 2011

Heterick, Brian E. & Shattuck, Steve, 2011, Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) 2845, Zootaxa 2845 (1), pp. 1-174 : 166

Chronoxenus butteli (Forel) , comb. nov.

Turneria butteli Forel, 1913: 92 (combination in Iridomyrmex by Shattuck, 1990: 105 ).

Types. Holotype queen from Tandjong Slamat , Sumatra, Indonesia ( MHNG, examined).

Comments. Turneria butteli Forel is here transferred to Chronoxenus comb. nov. This taxon had previously been placed in Iridomyrmex ( Shattuck, 1990) . However, the broadly arcuate anterior clypeal margin and the narrow mandible with reduced dentition exclude it from Iridomyrmex . Although the queen is dealated, her appearance is consistent with subtribe Bothriomyrmecina (sensu Dubovikoff, 2005) . As the wings are not present and the palps are not visible, the important diagnostic characters for separating the members of the Bothriomyrmecina cannot be used in this case. Given the provenance of the specimen (Sumatra), the ant is unlikely to belong to Arnoldius , Bothriomyrmex or Nebothriomyrmex , although a conclusion cannot be reached for Loweriella , for which the queen is unknown. However, the balance of probabilities is with Chronoxenus —the queen in this instance is very similar morphologically to the holotype queen of Chronoxenus wroughtoni javanus Forel —and the holotype specimen of I. butteli is provisionally placed in that genus.

Note: While Dubovikoff (2005) proposed generic-level changes to the taxonomy of these ants, he did not provide details regarding the placement of individual species (with the exception of type species) within these genera. To clarify these generic combinations the species transferred from Bothriomyrmex to Arnoldius and Chronoxenus are listed here (all new combinations). Species transferred from Bothriomyrmex to Arnoldius : pusillus (Mayr), pusillus var. aequalis (Forel) , scissor (Crawley). Species transferred from Bothriomyrmex to Chronoxenus : dalyi (Forel), rossi (Donisthorpe), walshi (Forel), wroughtonii (Forel), wroughtonii formosensis (Forel), wroughtonii javanus (Forel), wroughtonii victoriae (Forel). The species B. wilsoni Clark (syntype worker from Port Lincoln, South Australia (MVMA, examined)) belongs to Plagiolepis (new combination). Both Clark (1934a), when describing this species, and Brown (1955) commented on its unusual morphology, with Brown even speculating that it might be a Plagiolepis rather than a Bothriomyrmex as originally proposed. An examination of a syntype has confirmed Brown’s suspicions.