A Monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. 49 



Genus OPTHALMOPONE, Forel. 



Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. Vol. 34, C.E. p. 113, 1890. 



Pachycondyla (pars), Emery, Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital., vol. 18, p. 360, 

 1886. 



Characters. 



g . Clypeus rounded in front, moderately convex, produced back- 

 wards angularly between the frontal carinae; the latter are short, 

 close together and narrow, sometimes lobed anteriorly. Mandibles 

 triangular, long, and beset with alternating long and short teeth. 

 Eyes large, placed behind or in the middle of the sides of the head. 

 Pronotum much longer than the mesonotum ; the latter is circum- 

 scribed by a distinct sulcus. Node of petiole thick, truncate behind, 

 and with the ventral lamella produced into a more or less sharp 

 point. Constriction between the 1st and 2nd abdominal segments 

 very slight. Claws simple. 



? . Unknown. 



c? . Head longer than the pronotum ; clypeus gibbous and pro- 

 jecting beyond the base of the mandibles ; frontal carinae distinct, 

 divergent behind. Mandibles moderately long and pointed. An- 

 tennae about as long as the head and thorax together ; scape shorter 

 than the 2nd joint of the flagellum. Pronotum largely exposed, at 



the node is four and a half times higher than long (about two and a half times in 

 the 5 major). Seen from above, the node is three and a quarter times as wide as 

 long (about as wide as long in the 2 major) ; the node above is longer, i.e. thicker 

 in the middle than at the sides; it is also convex from side to side, but more acute 

 dorsally than in the 5 5. The anterior face of the 1st abdominal segment is not 

 perpendicular as in the 55, but slopes forwards. The abdomen is much larger 

 than in the g major, and all the segments are much wider than long. The teeth 

 of the mandibles are larger and more acute. Other characters as in the $ major. 

 Bulawayo. 



TTioroDCof- 



Fig. 6. 



Megaponera foetens, Fabr. 



4 



