Camponotus (Myrmamblys) chapini Wheeler
Type location Zaïre (Wheeler, 1922a: 254,
illustrated, soldier & worker); subspecies ganzii from
Sudan (Weber, 1943c: 386, soldier & worker); soldier
and worker described (see Bolton, 1995)
 .
Wheeler's description (1922) was -
WORKER MAJOR - length 5.5 to 6.5 mm. Head very large in
proportion to the remainder of the body, longer than broad
(without the mandibles, 2.4 X 2.2 mm), broader behind than in
front, with deeply excised posterior, rather convex lateral
borders and prominent, rounded posterior corners. Mandibles stout,
convex, coarsely 6-toothed. Clypeus flattened, strongly carinate,
its anterior border notched on each side, with a short median
lobe, angularly emarginate in the middle and rounded at the
corners. Frontal area obsolete; frontal groove distinct; frontal
carinae approximated in front, subparallel and widely separated
behind, nearly as far apart as their distance from the lateral
borders of the head. Eyes small and flat. Antennae short, scapes
(1.2 mm) curved, somewhat flattened basally and thickened at their
tips, which extend only about three times their greatest diameter
beyond the eyes. Thorax small, short, and robust, not longer than
the head, very broad through the pronotum, which is as broad as
long, very rapidly narrowed to the laterally compressed epinotum;
the mesonotum and propodeum together not longer than the pronotum.
Promesonotal suture strongly impressed, metanotum very small and
short, but distinct. In profile the general dorsal outline of the
thorax is arcuate, but the mesonotum is somewhat raised in front
at the suture above the pronotum; the propodeum sloping, rounded,
with indistinct, subequal base and declivity. Petiole small, its
scale elliptical from behind, evenly rounded above, with a slight
angular projection in the middle of the superior border; in
profile scarcely thicker below than above, much compressed
anteroposteriorly, about three times as high as thick, with blunt
superior border. Gaster much smaller than the head, the first
segment anteriorly truncated, the dorsal surface convex. Legs
rather stout, tibiae slightly flattened, tarsal claws rather long.
 Shining
throughout; mandibles coarsely punctate, at their bases shagreened
and subopaque. Clypeus and head sharply shagreened and covered
with coarse, sparse punctures, which are very uniform on the
clypeus and cheeks, somewhat shallower and more scattered on the
front and vertex. Posterior corners of head with a few elongate
foveolae. Thorax and gaster more finely shagreened than the. head,
the gaster transversely, and both with scattered piligerous
punctures. Hairs yellow, sparse, coarse, erect, and rather short.
Petiolar border with four setae; gula with only a few short hairs;
cheeks hairless. Scapes naked; tibiae with numerous, very short
subappressed hairs. Pubescence sparse, appressed, distinct, short
on the mandibles, clypeus, and cheeks, longer on the gaster. Head
deep castaneous, almost black; mandibles and anterior portion of
clypeus deep red; antennae, pronotum, coxae, and legs brownish
yellow or testaceous; remainder of thorax, petiole, gaster, and an
inverted V-shaped spot on the dorsal surface of the pronotum, pale
castaneous.
WORKER MINOR - length 3 to 4.5 mm. Differing from the major in its
much smaller size and the shape of the head, which is as broad as
long, a little broader behind than in front, with straight sides
and feebly convex posterior border. Clypeus strongly carinate as
in the major, but its anterior lobe with straight entire anterior
border and subdentate angles. Mandibles smoother than in the
major, much less distinctly punctate. Antennal scapes extending
about one-fifth their length beyond the posterior corners of the
head. Sculpture, pilosity, and color much as in the major, worker,
but the thorax uniformly brown throughout, and the head paler,
though darker than the thorax and gaster.
Described from five major and eleven minor workers from Garamba,
Zaïre (type locality), a major from Medje, and a
minor from Faradje (Lang and Chapin). The specimen from the
locality last mentioned is from the stomach of a frog (Rana
occipitalis) and three of the workers from Garamba are from
the stomach of a toad (Bufo regularis). According to a
note accompanying the Garamba specimens, "these ants nest in
small conical termitaria", and, "there are few of these
termitaria without ants, which sometimes run about in the same
galleries as the termites but seem more often to have no dealings
with these insects".
Listed as a savannah species in Ivory Coast by Lévieux
& Louis (1975).
The photomontage is of a cotype of Camponotus chapini.
The original photographs, together with enlarged images, are from
the MCZ, Harvard University, website at -
MCZ
link. |
Weber's
(1943c) description of ganzii is at
