המועדפים של rjpretor

These pobnerines are common on the Blaauwberg nature reserve coastal trail. I stopped counting at 25 ants walking along the trail. These photos are a selection of photos taken of 4 ants. The ants are an excellent match for the B cavernosa that Hamish Robertson collected at Blaauwberg and are available to see on Antweb. However, they differ in quite a few ways from the Silvermine ants that we have given the same name. They are slightly bigger and appear more robust. The Silvermine ants have a lower, sleeker profile when viewed with the naked eye. Furthermore the sculpture of the Silvermine ants are more severe and more pumice stone like and they are covered by longish golden hairs which these ants don't have. Finally, I see that the distal 3 gaster segments on these ants are relatively smooth and again not covered with hairs which again is different from the Silvermine ants of which we have at least 2 observations. Peter, I note there are 2 subspecies of these ants, do you have any information on that otherwise I wonder whether the Silvermine ants are something else... Note: Not all our Bothroponera have photos on Antweb.