Odontomachus tyrannicus Fr. Smith (Fig. 4, no. 1)

Odontomachus tyrannicus Fr. Smith, 1859, J. Proc. Linn. Soc. London, Zool., 3:455, worker. Type locality: Aru. Yiehmeyer, 1912, Abh. Zool. Anthrop. Mus. Dresden, 14:6. Nec Odontomachus tyrannicus Fr. Smith, 1861, J. Proe. Linn. Soc. London, Zool., 6:44, pl. 1, fig. 4 (see 0. gladiator Donisthorpe, 1932, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (10)10:467). Odontomachus tyrannicus rar. obsolescens Donisthorpe, 1940, Entomologist, 73:106-107, worker, male. Original localities: Kokoda, Papua; Camp Nok, Waigeo. NEW SYNONYMY. (Syntypes examined - MCZ.)

Material examined. WAIGEO: Camp Nok (syntypes). NETH. NEW GUINEA: Mamberamo River (W. C. van Heurn). N-E. NEW GUINEA: Finschhafen (2 series; N. G. L. Wagner, E. S. Ross); Lambaeb, 900 m., Saruwaged Ra. (E. J. Ford); Sattelberg, 660 m. (Wilson, no. 722); Sattelberg-Maroruo, 800-900 m. (Wilson, no. 724); Bolingbangeng-Nganduo, 900-1000 m. (Wilson, no. 731). PAPUA: Mt. Lamington (C. T. McNamara); Bisianumu, 500 m. (Wilson, nos. 659, 667). NEW BRITAIN: St. Paul’s, 350 m., Bainings Mts., Gazelle Pen. (J. L. Gressitt); Ti, Nakanai Mts. (Ford).

Taxonomic note. The depth of pronotal striation varies greatly, as noted by Donisthorpe in his description of var. obsolescens, but this variation is apparently non-geographic. Both extremes as well as intermediates are included in material from a single locality, Finschhafen.

Ecological note. This species was relatively common in second-growth forest along the native trail between Sattelberg and Nganduo. Both in this area and at Bisianumu, Papua, workers were found foraging on the ground during the day. A note accompanying van Heurn’s Mamberamo series (MCZ) states that this collection was made from a small colony nesting in the soil beneath a fallen palm trunk.