Notes on Ponera spp.- — -T aylor 
179 
FIG. 1. Ponera leae Forel. Petiolar node in side 
view. Drawn from a specimen collected at Paihia, 
New Zealand. 
fine longitudinal striae, than are those of cale- 
donica; they appear as subopaque, whereas 
in caledonica they are moderately to strongly 
shining. 
( 3 ) The punctulation of the first and second 
gastric segments is somewhat more coarse, and 
close, than that of caledonica . 
(4) The body colouration is darker than that 
of caledonica , medium reddish brown, as op- 
posed to light reddish brown. 
Ponera norfolkensis (Wheeler) 
Ponera leae oculata Wheeler, 1927, Proc. Amer. 
Acad. Arts Sci. 62: 121-153; pp. 130-131, 
fig. 1, worker, queen, original description. 
TYPE LOCALITY: Norfolk Island. 
Ponera leae norfolkensis Wheeler, 1935, Occ. 
Pap. Bishop Mus. 11(11): 1-56; p. 13, new 
name for oculata, name preoccupied. 
The following details have been supplied by 
Dr. Wilson; they are based upon two syntype 
workers in the Museum of Comparative Zool- 
ogy, Harvard University. 
( 1 ) HW 0.43 mm.-0.44 mm., HL 0.56 mm- 
0.57 mm., SL 0.36 mm. Cl 76-77, SI 84-85, 
PW 0.35 mm, petiolar node length 0.20 mm, 
dorsal petiole width 0.29 mm. (PW, petiolar 
length, and petiolar width are based on one 
specimen only. ) 
(2) Size larger than that of either leae or 
caledonica. 
(3) Eye developed as in caledonica. 
(4) Propodeal sculpturing as in leae. 
DISCUSSION: Within the Ponera tenuis spe- 
cies group Wilson (1957) recognized several 
subgroups. One of these, his caledonica sub- 
group, included P. caledonica of New Caledonia, 
and the east Australian P. exedra Wilson. The 
major features of this subgroup are the relatively 
large size, elongated head, thick petiolar node, 
and light colouration; characters which are 
shared also by leae and norfolkensis, discussed 
above. Accordingly the subgroup may be ex- 
tended to include these two species, and by 
nomenclatural priority must now become known 
as the Ponera leae subgroup. 
In addition, relationship between leae, nor- 
folkensis, and caledonica is particularly marked.. 
Indeed Wilson, who has checked one of my leae 
homoeotypes against the type series of cale- 
donica, has noted {in litt. ) that the characters 
of leae fall within the range of variation of 
caledonica, in such important characters as size, 
petiole shape, and head and scape proportions. 
Nevertheless the diagnostic features listed above 
seem to be characteristic. P. norfolkensis also 
seems to be a "good species,” considering the 
characters listed above, and the differences be- 
tween it and leae noted by Wheeler (1927). 
Within the P. leae subgroup, therefore, leae, 
norfolkensis, and caledonica form a very closely 
related assemblage distinct from P. exedra. These 
three forms may best be considered as constitut- 
ing a biological superspecies, with three ap- 
parently distinct allopatric species developed on 
New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, and Tasmania. 
Full specific recognition has been accorded these 
forms due to the apparently discontinuous na- 
ture of the variation in their diagnostic features, 
and the known facts regarding the often very 
subtle species differences in other, better repre- 
sented, species of Ponera. 
