Genus Camponotus subgenus Tanaemyrmex
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The Ants of Africa Genus Camponotus subgenus Tanaemyrmex |
| Genus Camponotus |
Subgenus Tanaemyrmex Ashmead (1905b: 384) - member species regarded as in Myrmoturba by Wheeler (1922); synonymized by Emery (1925b: 75).
Subgenus definition -- clypeus carinate, with pronounced anterior median lobe (usually rectangular). Head of major usually much wider posteriorly, occiput usually without a border; minor head with parallel sides, sometimes narrowed posteriorly; mandibles usually with 6-7 teeth; thorax dorsum arcuate, rarely with propodeum slightly depressed and saddle-shaped. Usually nesting in ground or under stones (truly global with very many species).
Although, I am leaving it in this catalogue as a substantive species,
C. rubripes Latreille seems to be too enigmatic to be a
recognisable species. Forel (1886f) summarised the characters common to
all subspecies, varieties and races of rubripes and that is on -
,
giving more a set of characters for the subgenus than anything else.
Emery (1925b: 76) recognised three groups of workers:-
alpha - with sides of head parallel and occipital border usually rounded,
vertex not impressed
beta - with sides convergent behind; vertex clearly depressed and the
eyes are well removed from the occipital border
gamma - even more accentuated than beta, the posterior of the head being
cone-shaped with the occipital border reduced to a narrow articulation,
sometimes extended into a neck, particuarly in forms where the cone-shape
is not so accentuated
Emery added that intermediates also could be found.
Emery listed the subgenus members the species as follow (African members
only) -
maculatus-gouldi-group - aequatorialis, brevicollis,
caffer, crawleyi, donisthorpei, guttatus,
hova ssps, immigrans, langi, longipes,
maculatus with many ssps, masimissa, pompeius,
sexpunctatus, varus and wellmani
irritans-thraso-group - acvapimensis, arnoldinus,
bianconii, baynei, cleobulus, kersteni,
maguassa, thales and thraso ssps
compressus-sylvaticus-group - compressus ssps probativa
& incommoda, congolensis, fornasinii, knysnae,
solon (with ssp brutus and varieties chiton, jugurtha
and lycurgus) and somalinus
ungrouped - rubripes, werthi
Santschi (1926a) gave a consideration of the then subgenera - Tanaemyrmex
Ashmead (1905b), Myrmoturba Forel (1912i) and Dinomyrmex
Ashmead (1905b). This is at
The peculiarity of the minor forms where the head is dramatically narrowed
behind the occiput, apparently used for separating subgenus Dinomyrmex,
was left in confusion. Apart from the strange apparently monomorphic
Camponotus (Myrmoxygenys) caesar,
my observation is that such minors appear to be restricted to what I have
termed the pompeius-group. Even so, as will be seen under
Camponotus
maculatus, the proliferation of subspecies and varieties leaves
chaos. Santschi also pointed out that he regarded
Camponotus hova,
primarily from Madagascar but with some purported forms from South Africa,
as a mimetic of maculatus.
Note I have reconised a new species-complex, guttatus-complex, within the maculatus-group; majors with heads longer than wide, approximately rectangular in full face view with weakly arcuate sides and an only shallowly impressed occipitum. Members presently abjectus (SantschI, 1937d: 242); guttatus Emery (1899e: 498); kersteni (Gerstäcker, 1871: 355); minisculus (Viehmeyer, 1914c); and proletaria Baroni Urbani (1971b: 362, solely as a replacement name for Camponotus (Myrmoturba) maculatus F. st. miserabilis n.st. Santschi (1914d: 379, soldier & worker); itself according to Baroni Urbani, 1972: 123). Baroni Urbani's multiple synonymization (1972: 123 ff) of the many so-called varieties of maculatus was presented with very little details of his actually study of specimens, although he noted he had seen the specimens in Basel and Parigi, as well as material in London.
Provisional key to soldier morph of African species - based primarily on historical descriptions, caution is urged and the main descriptions should be perused to verify any diagnosis.
| A1 |  Alitrunk
profile convex in a smooth elongated curve, propodeal declivity (when
obvious from angle with dorsum) very short (at least two
species-complexes) abjectus, aegyptiacus, aequatorialis, arnoldinus (?), baynei, cognatocompressus, congolensis, desantii, guttatus, kersteni, maculatus, negus, (rubripes), sexpunctatus (?), traegaordhi |
maculatus-group - 1 |
| -- | Alitrunk profile with distinct angle (even if obtuse) between dorsum and declivity of propodeum | A2 |
| A2 |   Major
clypeus with distinct median carina; large TL 15 mm plus; alitrunk
profile convex with angular propodeum, petiole scale quite thick;
trimorphic (?) minors with distinct posteriorly narrowed heads; soldiers
dark red-brown to near black; minors lighter brown-orange to yellow-redcaffer, coniceps, etiolipes, fornasinii (?), heros, knysnae, langi, natalensis, pompeius, posticus, probativus, wellmani, varus (no description) |
pompeius-group - 12 |
| -- | Minors with square to oval heads in full face view | A3 |
| A3 |  Large,
TL ca 15 mm; minor head near rectangular - brutus, buttikeri,
empedocles (?), importunus, solon, somalinus |
brutus-group - 22 |
| -- |  Small
(for genus) TL soldier < 10 mm; minor heads sub-ovoid to square;
alitrunk profile interrupted shallowly convex but propodeum markedly
angular; mostly dark near black - acvapimensis, agonius, basuto,
cleobulus, dicksoni, errabundus, immigrans, ligeus, maguassa, roubaudi,
sacchii, thales, werthi |
acvapimensis-group - 26 |
| ¤ | Queen only known (possibly a pompeius-group member) | Zaïre - massinissa |
| ¤ |  Not
included in the main key because the status of the species (type
location Madagascar) and its possible subspecies, including those
reported from South Africa, is far from clear |
Madagascar and dubiously Southern Africa - hova |
| ¤ | Status dubious, as comparison is with bertolonii in Paramyrmamblys; TL 9.0 mm; | South Africa - bianconii |
| ¤ | Worker only, status undetermined (in Emery, 1925b, as ssp of maculatus) - middle (?) and small workers TL 8.5-9 mm & 7-8 mm, mostly dark brown | Tanzania - pulvinatus |
| ¤ | Worker only, status uncertain as description inadequate | Sierra Leone - rubripes |
| ¤ | Worker & queen only, status uncertain as description inadequate | Mozambique - sexpunctatus |
| -- | Alitrunk profile
convex in a smooth elongated curve; at least dimorphic (?) minor/minima
with head narrowed posteriorly but not dramatically so and without any "neck" - maculatus-group |
-- |
| 1 |  Majors
with heads longer than wide, approximately rectangular in full face view
with weakly arcuate sides and an only shallowly impressed occipitum;
maximum TL ca 10 mm; presently abjectus, guttatus, kersteni,
minisculus and proletaria |
2 |
| -- | Majors
with head in full face view approximately triangular, with quite
strongly convex sides and deeply impressed occiptum - maculatus-complex |
4 |
| - | guttatus-complex | - |
| 2 | TL 5-6 mm; body and gaster dark; gaster tergite margins with narrow pale bands; legs pale brown | East Africa (?Guinea) - kersteni |
| -- | TL 8-9 mm | 3 |
| 3 |  TL
8.5 mm; ground colour pale yellow or yellow ochre, with rust or red
brown areas - distal mandibles, part of scapes, posterior angles of
head, bands at each suture of gaster; and dark brown areas - mass of
mandibles, rest of head, dorsal areas of thorax and gaster, plus on
sides of gaster; erect hairs rust but sparse except on gaster |
Angola (?Guinea) - abjectus |
| -- | TL
major 8 mm; minor 5.25-4 mm; major head HL 2.4 mm HW 2.0 mm; head
distinctively shaped with sides only feebly arcuate; clypeus carinate
with the anterior margin feebly arcuate and the corner right-angled;
primarily yellow rust brown, head darker; from the description appears
similar to abjectus but has the front of the face densely
stippled (pointillé) and matt, the posterior of the face and
alitrunk being finely reticulate-striate but weakly shiny; the scape is
slender and surpasses the occiput |
Cameroun & ? Guinea - guttatus |
| -- |  TL
6-8.5 mm; minor with near square head; quite dark brown |
Tanzania - minusculus - new status |
| - | maculatus-complex | - |
| 4 |  With
at least a few gular hairs on underside of head; MAJOR TL ca 15 mm; HW
4.3 HL 3.9 mm; mostly dark brown, alitrunk yellow (particularly in
minors), funiculus, petiole, rust patches on gaster |
Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt - fellah |
| -- | Without any gular hairs on underside of head | 5 |
| 5 | TL < 11 mm | 6 |
| -- | TL > 11 mm | 8 |
| 5 | Head and body with substantial areas brown or lighter | 6 |
| -- | Head and whole body unicolorous black or nearly so | 7 |
| 6 |  TL
major 10.5 mm, minor 7.5-8 mm; head less convex-sided and less narrowed
in front, occiput less impressed; scape surpasses occiput by about
one-third its own length; pilosity rusty red, sparse on alitrunk and
gaster, slightly more abundant on anterior of head; head black, alitrunk
and gaster brown, tibiae dark brown, mandibles & scapes blackish,
femora & tarsi pale brown, trochanters, coxae, petiole and funiculus
ochreous; margins of gaster segments translucent ohcreous but lateral
pale spots on first two segments very dark and diffuse |
South Africa - traegaordhi |
| -- | TL 8.9-11 mm; mandibles with 6-7 teeth, subopaque, very finely reticulate, with spaced puncturations; scapes strongly curved, quite cylindrical, surpassing the occiput by about twice their width; propodeal declivity a little shorter than the dorsum; tibia subcylindrical, with two or three denticles apically and sides feebly channeled; erect pilosity rust, quite long but sparse on the body, none on the tibiae and tarsi, pubescence very fine, very short and very spaced out all over; shiny, head, appendages and gaster brown black; occipital angles, posterior clypeus and mandible apices, plus part of the thorax of red brown; basal part of gaster, funiculi, base and apex of scapes, lower legs and part of alitrunk yellow rust, narrow transverse band on first gastral segment and base of mandibles brown. | Congo Basin (?Guinea) - aequatorialis |
| 7 |  TL
9.5 mm; head narrower anteriorly than maculatus; petiole scale
higher than long, twice as wide as high, subacuminate above, anterior
face near flat; dull black, alitrunk very dark brownish-black, legs dark
brown, apex of gastral segments translucent testaceous |
. |
| . | 
It seems negus as presently understood encompasses several forms
of which this shiny major may be one |
Ethiopia south to South Africa - negus |
| -- | Propodeum somewhat angular, dorsum one-third longer than declivity; black or blackish-brown, appendages reddish ochreous (minor with alitrunk yellowish-brown) | South Africa - arnoldinus |
| -- |  TL
10 mm; dorsum of head and alitrunk opaque, remainder shiny; black,
appendages ferruginous, gaster with pale posterior margins |
Cape Verde Is - occasus |
| 8 | TL < 12 mm | 9 |
| -- | TL > 12 mm | 10 |
| 9 |  TL
> 11 mm; poly- or trimorphic, soldier only moderately sized; major
head & thorax uniformly dark brown, gaster with distinctive pattern
of yellow-brown patches, legs almost entirely yellow; minors
more predominantly yellow brown |
Sahel zone - aegyptiacus |
| -- |  TL
10.8 mm; pilosity brownish-yellow; head and most of body blackish-brown;
petiole, coxae and femora ochreous; |
South Africa - baynei |
| 10 |   TL
ca 13 mm; head a little longer than wide, scape not reaching occipital
margin; clypeus with median carina; head & alitrunk densely and
finely reticulopunctate; petiole scale relatively thick, intermediate
between scale and cuneiform (right); overall black with a silky
appearance and a bluish tinge |
West Africa & Congo Basin - congolensis |
| -- | TL 14 mm plus | 11 |
| 11 | Very
variable in colour and size, enormously plastic species; type form as in
photomontage - the variability is analysed separately from the species
page |
Pan-African, tramp - maculatus |
| -- |  TL
15 mm plus (estimate) ; HL 4.8 mm, HW 3.5 mm; head and thorax dorsum, up
to the upper part of the propodeal declivity, and dorsum of first and
second gastral segments black; funiculus, lower sides of thorax red or
brown rust; everything else yellow |
Benin - desantii |
| -- |  Probably
extra-limital, TL ca 15 mm, maculatus-group but larger and
strongly sculptured; head and alitrunk red-brown, gaster near black |
North Africa inc Egypt - cognatocompressus |
- |
Alitrunk profile with distinct angle (even if obtuse) between dorsum and declivity of propodeum | - |
| 12 | Large
TL 15 mm plus; petiole scale quite thick, usually cuneiform; minors
with distinct posteriorly narrowed heads; soldiers dark red-brown to
near black; minors lighter brown-orange to yellow-red |
pompeius-group - 13 |
| ¤ |  Worker
only known; TL 15 mm (size similar to etiolipes) |
Congo - brevicollis |
| ¤ |   Worker
only; TL 8.5-9 mm |
Cameroun - donisthorpei |
| ¤ |  Worker
only known, TL 11 to 12.5 mm; entirely dark brown |
Angola - varus |
| 13 | Head wider than long | 13a |
| -- | Head not wider than long | 14 |
| 13a |   TL
ca 18 mm; head noticeably wider than long HW 6.5, HL 5.5; petiole scale
convex on both sides; body with long silky dark red hairs all over;
basically black with slight brown tint, appendages lighter; minor
clypeus with distinctive anteriorly raised median carina |
Southern Africa (?Guinea) - wellmani |
| ¤ |   Worker
only, TL 8.5 mm; major (new specimens) TL > 15 mm |
Cameroun - crawleyi |
| ¤ | TL 11 mm; head conical narrowing behind the eyes (as wellmani, but much shorter); clypeus with strong median carina; eyes somewhat bigger and more convex; matt and densely transversely striate; whole body with long quite abundant rust pilosity; head & scapes dark red-brown; rest progressively lighter rearwards, gaster with lateral yellow border; - seemingly only the minor is known, it may be a simple synonym of wellmani | Congo - coniceps |
| 14 | Scapes surpassing occiput by at least one-quarter of own length or more | 15 |
| -- | Scape not reaching or only just surpassing occiput | 19 |
| 15 | Scapes surpass occiput by one-quarter of own length; TL 15.5-16.3 mm; head triangular posteriorly widest and twice width at anterior margin; eyes set about mid-point of head; tibiae compressed; mandibles shiny but coarsely punctured; erect hairs fulvous sparse on head and alitrunk quite abundant on gaster; head and alitrunk nitidulous gaster shiny; black but funiculus, lower lateral alitrunk, petiole and basal third of femora translucent testaceous | South Africa - knysnae |
| -- | Scapes surpassing occiput by at least one third of own length | 16 |
| 16 |  TL
12.5-14 mm; overal shape narrow and elongated; head dark brown, body
brown, petiole and legs yellow-brown |
Zaïre (Madagascar?) - langi |
| -- | TL > 14 mm | 17 |
| 17 | TL 16 mm, HL 4.7 HW 3.6; (cf etiolipes, sic longipes but more slender and slimmer) eyes quite large set at two-thirds point of head; petiole higher than long; matt, head finely and densely reticulo-punctate, gaster transversely shagreened; body with long golden red erect hairs, those on gaster directed posteriorly; all over very fine rust short pubescence; brownish-black, gaster segments narrowly bordered yellow, funiculus, condylar bulbs, ends of scapes, trochanters, lower femora and petiole, hind tarsi and apex of gaster rust | Tanzania - heros |
| -- | Eyes set at or just behind mid-point of face | 18 |
| 18 | TL 14-17 mm; head one-eighth longer than wide; eyes set just behind mid-point; alitrunk profile with mesonotum more convex and raised above level of hind margin of pronotum; entirely dull, relatively coarsely sculptured; whole body, legs and antennae with fairly long abundant reddish yellow pubescence; erect hairs long, fulvous and fairly plentiful, absent from genae; black, apical borders of gaster narrowly testaceous and translucent, funiculus and tarsi dark brown; | South Africa - natalensis |
| -- |  TL
16-18 mm, HL = HW; sides of head not very convex; petiole with very
convex anterior and flat posterior; tibiae strongly compressed, dorsal,
inner and outer faces canaliculate; pilosity brownish-red, absent from
legs, very sparse on head; black, petiole dark yellowish brown,
appendages dull reddish-ochreous, gaster with a small dull ochreous spot
on each side of three basal segments (also ? Mozambique -
sexpunctatus) |
Mozambique - probativus |
| - | Scape not reaching or hardly surpassing occiput | - |
| 19 | TL ca 15 mm | 20 |
| -- | TL > 15 mm | 21 |
| 20 | TL
15 mm; all except gaster golden yellow-brown, gaster dark brown |
West Africa & Congo Basin - pompeius |
| -- | TL 15 mm, head near square; cf cognatus head wider less narrowed in front, without erect hairs on genae; long fine decumbent pubescence all over but sparse | Mozambique - fornasinii |
| 21 |  TL
16 mm; head, alitrunk and petiole fuscous, gaster with basal segments
with a small spot laterally, appendages dark rust; dull, scantily pilose
and scarcely pubescent; |
South Africa - caffer |
| -- |  TL
major ?, minor (illustrated) 15.5-16 mm; major morphology like maculatus
rel to minor; head much longer than maculatus deeply emarginate
posteriorly; dull, finely shagreened and punctured, clypeus with
numerous hairs pits; major almost totally coal-black, appendages piceous
to reddish-brown |
Southern Africa tropical forests - etiolipes |
| -- |  Very
large, TL > 16 mm; erect pilosity very long, sparse on alitrunk;
colour predominantly yellow-brown |
eastern Zaïre & Kenya - posticus |
|
- |
Minors with square to ovoid faces | - |
| 22 | Large, TL > 12 mm; minor head near rectangular - brutus, buttikeri, empedocles (?), importunus, solon | brutus-group - 23 |
| -- | Smaller, TL soldier < 10 mm; minor heads sub-ovoid
to square; alitrunk profile interrupted shallowly convex but propodeum
markedly angular; mostly dark near black |
acvapimensis-group - 26 |
| 23 | TL < 14 mm | 24 |
| -- | TL > 14 mm | 25 |
| 24 | TL 10.0-13.6 mm; cf thales but head with more prominent strongly angular occipital lobes, also more distinctly punctured in front of eyes and below frontal carinae; scapes just failing to reach occiptum; all black except apical margins of gaster testaceous, legs and scapes dark brown, (maculatus-group) | Southern Africa - empedocles |
| -- |  Soldier,
TL 13 mm (cf natalensis but smaller); head highly domed in
anterior view; scapes reach occiput; very small petiole scale; head and
alitrunk dull due to microscopic reticulation, mandibles shiny; black
appendages rust or lighter |
South Africa - buttikeri |
| 25 |  TL
18 mm; HW significantly less than HL; colour generally like solon
but larger and with shiny smooth mandibles |
West Africa & Congo Basin - lycurgus |
| -- | HW near equal to HL | 25a |
| 25a |
TL > 15 mm; head distinctly wider than long; declivity of propodeum
obtusely angled, petiole with blunt dorsal border; occiput with numerous
piliferous points, mandibles smooth; dark red-brown, extremities orange |
Western Africa (Angola to Sierra Leone) - brutus |
| -- |  TL
13.5-15 mm; head just longer than wide, petiole with sharp dorsal
border; mandibles striated, occiput smooth; dark brown, head near black
|
Western Africa (Angola to Sierra Leone) - solon |
| -- | TL 14-16 mm; cf caffer but more compressed with thinner scale and erect hairs on genae; petiole scale thin; minor head only moderately narrowed behind; colour like caffer or pale cognatus but with diffuse brownish yellow lateral spots on basal three segments of gaster, head dull sometimes more rusty-red | Southern Africa - importunus |
| -- |   TL
12-15 mm; major - head large and occiput strongly scalloped; clypeus
with a strong carina and large rectangular anterior lobe; mandibles very
finely striated; entirely black, appendages variably reddish;minor - head narrower, oval and occiput hardly scalloped |
Somalia - somalinus |
|
- |
Petiole scale squamiform, thickness variable but without highly convex anterior face - smaller TL soldier < 10 mm; minor heads sub-ovoid to square; mostly dark near black - acvapimensis-group | - |
| 26 | Petiole scale thick with rounded apex in profile | 27 |
| -- | Petiole scale squamiform tapering to sharp apex | 28 |
| 27 |  TL
7.4 mm; (cf werthi) scapes not reaching occiput, occipital
margin convex; pronotum nearly three times as wide as long; propodeal
dorsum very narrow; petiole scale thick 2.5 x higher than thick; whitish
pubescence very short, sparse and decumbent, erect hairs long and
whitish but very few; black, appendages mainly ferruginous |
South Africa - errabundus |
| -- |  TL
6.5-8.2 mm; scapes surpass occiput by length of first funiculus segment;
hind margin of head straight; pronotum twice as wide as long; propodeum
dorsum one-third longer than wide; pubescence very short and
inconspicuous, erect hairs sparse long fairly pointed and not thick;
shining black, tarsi dark brown |
South Africa - werthi |
| 28 | TL > 10 mm | 29 |
| -- | TL maximum 10 mm | 30 |
| 29 | TL 11 mm; sculpturation of dense reticulo-puncturation; with long grey-white erect pilosity; long pubescence on the gaster; base colour dull brown-red, legs and gaster reddish-yellow | Cameroun - immigrans |
| -- | TL 9-11 mm, HL about the same as HW; head trapezoidal not much narrower anteriorly, middle half of sides straight, occiput moderately impressed; scapes just surpassing occiput; alitrunk short and robust, propodeum dorsum very narrow; shiny, erect hairs yellowish, none on sides of head; head black, most of rest reddish brown, anterior of gaster paler | South Africa - thales |
| 30 |  TL
9-10 mm; very dark dull appearance with dense coarse, fulvous red
pilosity |
Cameroun & Congo Basin - maguassa |
| -- | TL < 10 mm | 31 |
| 31 | TL 9-10 mm | 32 |
| -- | TL < 9 mm | 33 |
| 32 | TL 9.0 mm; scapes surpass occiput by about four times own breadth; propodeum longer than meso- and metanotum together, dorsum longer than abrupt declivity; erect hairs scanty, yellow; black, shiny, appendages dark brown to red (cf natalensis but smaller and more compact, shinier) | Ethiopia - ligeus |
| -- | TL 9.5 mm, HW 3.5 HL 3.3, SL 2.4; cf natalensis ssp corvus, clypeus obtusely carinate, with truncate anterior lobe; occiput more deeply impressed, scape reaches to two-thirds of distance from eye to occiput; piceous with appendages ferruginous | Somalia - sacchii |
| 33 | TL
ca 8.5 mm; clypeus without or only a short, posterior, median carina;
quite short and thickset; fine yellowish pilosity; all over dull pitch
|
. |
| . |  |
Sub-Saharan forest in sunlit ground - acvapimensis |
| -- | TL max 8.0 mm | 34 |
| 34 | TL ca 8.0 mm | 35 |
| -- | TL < 8.0 mm | 36 |
| 35 |  TL
8.0 mm; scapes surpass occiput; propodeum angular and high, narrow in
dorsal view;brownish-black, apex of gaster testaceous, anterior of head
and appendages rust to brown-red (related to cleobulus) |
Lesotho - basuto |
| -- | TL 8.0 mm, HL 2.2 HW 2.1; eyes small; sculpture as thales but more puncturations between frontal carinae and larger on mandibles; black, gaster with posterior margins yellowish; mandibles reddish, appendages brown | South Africa - cleobulus |
| 36 |  TL
4-7 mm, brown-black, fairly shiny; profile of propodeum a smooth curve
|
Zaïre (?Guinea) - agonius |
| -- | Profile of propodeum distinctly angular | 37 |
| 37 |  TL
6-6.5 mm; less shiny; dorsum of propodeum one-third shorter than
declivity, slightly lowered and curve into declivity obtuse; brown-black
but head darker |
. |
| . |  |
Zaïre - roubaudi |
| -- |  TL
7.5 mm; (cf cleobolus) scapes reach occiput; shiny, with just
visible microscopic reticulation, plus few large hair-pits; a few
yellowish hairs on head, six on pronotum, four on middle of propodeum,
two on each side of petiole; brownish-black, appendages reddish-brown,
coxae and base of femur yellowish white |
South Africa - dicksoni |
 |
Genus page | © 2007, 2008 - Brian Taylor CBiol
FIBiol FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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