Odontomachus nigriceps Fr. Smith

Wilson EO, 1959, Studies on the ant fauna of Melanesia V. The tribe Odontomachini., Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 120, pp. 483-510 : 496

Odontomachus nigriceps Fr. Smith

Odontomachus nigriceps Ft. Smith , 1860, J. Proc. Linn. Soc. London, Zoo!., 4 (suppl.) : 103, pl. 1, fig. 9 (this figure is also referred to by Smith as 0. saevissimus ). Type locality: Dory (Manokwari), Neth. New Guinea. Mayr, 1876, J. Mus. Godeff. Hamburg, 12:85, distribution. Donisthorpe, 1932, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (10)10:461, worker.

Odontomachus angulatus subsp. praefectus Forel , 1911, Sitzber. Akad. Wiss. Munich, p. 251, worker. Type locality: New Guinea. (Holotype examined- Zoologische Staatssammlung, Munich.) NEW SYNONYMY.

Material examined. PAPUA : Kokoda, 350 m. (L. E. Cheesman ) ; Dobodura (P. J. Darlington).

Taxonomic notes. This species is closely related to testacea Emery , from which it can be distinguished by its distinctive coloration and much denser body pilosity. The two species occur together at Dobodura.

The holotype of O. angulatus subsp. praefectus Forel is a typical worker of nigriceps . It has relatively convex anterior and posterior nodal borders, resembling the Kokoda specimen rather more closely than workers from Dobodura. There is no evident reason for Forel’s decision to associate it with angulatus Mayr , a widely dissimilar member of the saevissimus group.