Axinidris mlalu ^HNS, new species

Worker diagnosis. Scape shaft, pronotum and gastral terga without erect hairs; distance between apices of propodeal spines less than distance between propodeal spiracles; gastral tergum 1 yellow, segments 2 - 4 dark brown.

Worker measurements (mm) (n - 1). HW 0.74; HL 0.86; SL 0.68; EL 0.21; OVD 0.31; PNW 0.49; PPW 0.36; WL 1.03. Indices. CI 87; CNI 100; SI 91; OI 28.

Worker description. Front of head moderately shiny, weakly coriarious and strigulate between sparse minute punctures; gena shinier and with few strigulae, malar area more strongly coriarious. Antennal scape without erect hairs; each frontal carina with 1 pair of long erect hairs; upper frons with a single submedian pair of long hairs below vertex margin.

Mesosomal dorsum without erect hairs. Pronotal disc smooth and shiny. Mesonotum shiny, anteriorly smooth, posteriorly sharply punctate. Mesepisternum shiny, with faint longitudinal rugae. Metepisternum densely and relatively coarsely punctate. Propodeum contiguously finely punctate; dorsal face slightly convex in profile; medial carina absent from dorsal face except at summit of declivity, where it is low and broadly rounded; medial carina present on declivitous face; spiracular prominence well-developed, spiracular opening directly obliquely distad; propodeal teeth short and distance between their bases less than distance between spiracles.

Gastral terga shiny and unsculptured except for close fine piligerous punctures; all terga without erect hairs.

Head light brownish with yellowish clypeus and mandibles; mesosoma light brownish, paler on pronotum and sides; gaster dark brown but tergum 1 yellow, concolorous with petiole.

Queen and male unknown.

TYPE MATERIAL

Holotype worker, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, Songha-Mbaere Pref., Parc National Dzanga-Ndoki, " 37.9 km 169 ° S " Lidjombo, 2 ° 22 ' N 16 ° 10 ' E, 360 m, 20 - 28 May 2000 (B. L. Fisher, # 4128), beating low vegetation, rainforest, in CASC .

ETYMOLOGY

The name is an arbitrary combination to be treated as a noun in apposition.

DISCUSSION

The sharply contrastingly bicolored gaster and lack of erect hairs on both the mesosomal and gastral dorsa are distinctive for this species. Photomontage images are available at www. antweb. org as Axinidris ^HNS sp. 2.