Taxonomic history
Forel, 1913a PDF: 108 (w.); Arnold, 1915: 86 (w.).Status as species: Roger, 1861: 41; Gerstäcker, 1871: 355; Mayr, 1895 PDF: 124; Emery, 1895i PDF: 19; Emery, 1899d PDF: 469; Mayr, 1907b PDF: 18; Emery, 1911e PDF: 95; Emery, 1912c: 2; Forel, 1913a PDF: 108; Forel, 1913b PDF: 308; Forel, 1913f PDF: 666; Santschi, 1914b PDF: 54; Arnold, 1915: 86; Wheeler, 1922: 783; Stitz, 1923: 144; Santschi, 1924a PDF: 160; Santschi, 1930b PDF: 59; Menozzi, 1939c: 99; Arnold, 1954 PDF: 293; Arnold, 1960a PDF: 81; Bolton, 1974c PDF: 330 (redescription); Bolton, 1995b: 338; Villet et al., 1999 PDF: 282; Bolton & Brown, 2002 PDF: 13; Hita Garcia et al., 2013 PDF: 221.Senior synonym of Plectroctena conjugata: Arnold, 1926 PDF: 209 (in text); Villet et al., 1999 PDF: 282; Bolton & Brown, 2002 PDF: 14.Senior synonym of Plectroctena mandibularis integra: Bolton, 1974c PDF: 330; Bolton, 1995b: 338; Bolton & Brown, 2002 PDF: 14.Senior synonym of Plectroctena caffra major: Emery, 1899d PDF: 469; Santschi, 1924a PDF: 160; Wheeler, 1922: 784; Bolton, 1974c PDF: 330; Bolton, 1995b: 338; Bolton & Brown, 2002 PDF: 14.Senior synonym of Plectroctena mandibularis striativentris: Bolton, 1974c PDF: 330; Bolton, 1995b: 338; Bolton & Brown, 2002 PDF: 14.Material of the nomen nudum Plectroctena caffra referred here by Roger, 1861a PDF: 41; Mayr, 1863a PDF: 442; Roger, 1863b PDF: 19; Emery, 1893j PDF: 2; Emery, 1911e PDF: 95; Wheeler, 1922: 784; Santschi, 1924a PDF: 160; Bolton, 1974c PDF: 330; Bolton & Brown, 2002 PDF: 13.- Makapan.
Tanganjikasee (Berliner Museum), Oranje-Freistaat und Cap der guten Hoffnung (Coli. Mayr).
Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus., vol. 6, p. 101, pl. 7, f. 1-5, [[worker]], [[male]]. - Formica caffra . (Klug), Spinola, Mem. Accad. Sc. Torino, vol. 13, p. 70 (1853).
Afrique orientale anglaise: Fort-Mall (nov. 1908), 2 [[worker]]; - Nairobi (1904), [[worker]]: - Bura, dans les Wa-Taila (1904), 2 [[male]].; - riviere Tchania (1.500 m., st. no 29, janv. 1912), 2 [[worker]].
Worker. Length 5-7 lines.-Shining black: delicately and not very closely punctured; an impressed line runs upwards from the anterior margin of the elevation between the antennae, halfway towards the vertex; the mandibles grooved longitudinally. Thorax oblong, rounded in front, slightly narrowed and obliquely truncated posteriorly, finely punctured, and the sides delicately striated; the tarsi with a fulvous pubescence, the anterior pair densely pubescent beneath. Abdomen: the first segment finely punctured, the node of the peduncle incrassate, subglobose and finely punctured.
Male. Length 4 lines. -Black: the apex of the abdomen ferruginous; head narrower than the thorax, transverse, with the vertex slightly narrowed behind the eyes; shining and delicately punctured; the antennae inserted in front of two elevated processes, the clypeus widely emarginate; mandibles short, not toothed and blunt at their apex. Thorax rugose, the disk with a mixture of confluent punctures and striae; the mesothorax with two deeply impressed oblique channels running inwards and uniting at the base of the scutellum; the wings subhyaline and iridescent, the nervures testaceous, the stigma fuscous. Abdomen: the three apical segments ferruginous, of the same form as in the female, the node of the petiole also similar. The worker not known.
Hab. Port Natal.
The sexes, taken in coitu by Herr Gueinzius, have been received from Port Natal; he says, " solitary; I have not been able to find its nest."
Plectroctena mandibularis is a large species of ant that ranges from the Eastern Cape, South Africa, through East Africa to Ethiopia. Their workers forage singly[1] in open terrain, and their colony size seldom exceeds 50 individuals.[1][2] It is one of the large Plectroctena species, including P. conjugata and P. minor, that specialize on adult millipedes as prey.[2] The nest is composed of chambers that are typically located 2 feet or more below the surface, and the nest entrances are usually marked by large piles of earth.[1][2]
Plectroctena mandibularis is a large species of ant that ranges from the Eastern Cape, South Africa, through East Africa to Ethiopia. Their workers forage singly in open terrain, and their colony size seldom exceeds 50 individuals. It is one of the large Plectroctena species, including P. conjugata and P. minor, that specialize on adult millipedes as prey. The nest is composed of chambers that are typically located 2 feet or more below the surface, and the nest entrances are usually marked by large piles of earth.
