SUBFAMILY DORYLINAE - Genus Dorylus Subgenus Dorylus
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The Ants of Africa SUBFAMILY DORYLINAE - Genus Dorylus Subgenus Dorylus |
| Genus Dorylus and Key |
Diagnostic Features - Antennae 11-jointed, funiculi short and all joints thick; except apical segment, which is longer than wide. Pygidium impressed with sharp margins.
Having perused the several descriptions given or translated by Arnold (1915), it seems to me that the number of species would be reduced somewhat if a modern revision was made.
Santschi's (1910g) gave a collection of drawings of male heads, this is
at 
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| ¤ | Male only - TL 23-24 mm; short mandibles; dark red-black | Uganda/Zaïre - alluaudi |
| ¤ | Male only - TL 25 mm; submatt, finely & densely puncturate; unicolourous clear red | Zaïre - gaudens |
| ¤ | Male only - TL 22-24; mandible apparently quite long and sharp | Western Africa - gribodoi |
| ¤ | Male only - TL 21 mm; head, pedicel and gaster dark brown, alitrunk and appendages lighter red-brown to yellowish | West Africa - mandibularis |
| ¤ | Male only - TL 20-22 mm; dark brown | Western Africa - moestus |
| ¤ | Male only - TL 25-27 mm; shiny dorsally, sides of alitrunk matt; rust, gaster darker | Zaïre - schoutedeni |
| ¤ | Male only - TL not given; mandible shorter; dark brown, head more red-brown | Zaïre - stadelmanni |
| ¤ | Male only - TL 27 mm; dark brown-yellow | Zaïre - staudingeri |
| ¤ | Queen only - TL 32 mm; highly polished; ferruginous yellow | South Africa - faurei |
| ¤ | Queen only - TL 34 mm; finely puncturate and somewhat dull; light rust-red | South Africa - furcatus |
| ¤ | Queen only - TL 30 mm; (brevipennis TL 41; affinis TL 42.5) | Ghana - ghanensis |
Provisional key to major workers based mainly on original descriptions
See also the Subgenus Dorylus comparison of the gastral apices.
| 1 | TL major 10-11 mm | 2 |
| -- | TL major < 9 mm | 3 |
| 2 |  TL
major 10-11 mm; HL one-third greater than HW; petiole longer than wide,
trapezoidal in dorsal view with posterior wider; colour chestnut
(castaneous) |
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| . |  |
Pan-African - affinis |
| -- |  Poorly
described with no size given but apparently similar to affinis
but petiole more curved and wider than long; specimen shown as a likely
candidate for the species |
Pan-African - depilis |
| -- | TL major ca 11 mm; head rectangular, one-third longer than wide, sides parallel and wide with posterior angles lobate; gaster and legs with short but distinct pubescence; head polished and shiny, propodeum and petiole densely puncturate and matt; colour black, although much of head and appendages dark red | Zaïre - aggressor |
| . | TL major < 9 mm | . |
| 3 | TL major < 6 mm | 4 |
| -- | TL major 7-9 mm | 5 |
| 4 |  TL
major ca 5 mm; petiole broader than long; whole body sharply and evenly
puncturate; colour rich ferruginous red, gaster somewhat paler; petiole
ventrally only slightly convex with no process of any shape |
Zaïre - bequaerti |
| -- |  TL
3.5-6.6 mm (Casamance, Senegal); head elongated, mandibles short,
slightly arcuate, shiny and striated, basally finely reticulate (minors
with more strongly striate mandibles); petiole longer than wide; colour
close to affinis but sculpturation feebler (more like politus)
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| . |  |
Senegal - striatidens |
| -- |  TL
major 5.6 mm; head with slightly convex sides, widest at midlength;
subpetiolar process flattened with triangular forward pointing apex;
finely sculptured; colour yellow-brown, apices darker |
West Africa - species A |
| . | TL major 7-9 mm | . |
| 5 | Head distinctly narrowest posteriorly; frontal carinae with distinct spines at level of antennal insertions | 6 |
| -- | Head not significantly narrowing posteriorly; frontal carinae with distinct spines at level of antennal insertions not always present | 7 |
| 6 |  TL
major ca 8 mm; sides of head strongly curved into posterior points;
vertex of head weakly puncturate; colour darker chestnut than helvolus |
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| . |  |
Western Africa - braunsi |
| -- |  TL
8 mm (Dakar, Senegal); mandibles striated on external and internal
margins, with preapical tooth reduced and apical tooth not truncated;
petiole wider than long |
Senegal - Dakar form of striatidens |
| 7 | Petiole with ventral process an elongated anterior spine | 8 |
| -- | Petiole with ventral process an elongated lamina, may be angular posteriorly | 9 |
| 8 |  TL
major ca 7 mm; head with very distinctly parallel sides; sub-petiolar
process long rearward pointed; colour red-brown |
West Africa - ?spininodis punctus / species B |
| -- |  TL
major 6.5 mm; elongated head; subpetiolar process spiniform (but reduced
in var. punctus); strong dense puncturation (close to politus) |
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| . |  |
Pan-African - spininodis |
| 9 |  TL
major ca 8 mm; smaller and more strongly punctured on head than affinis;
petiole node quadrate-globose, with ventral process a wide angle,
truncate posteriorly; colour chestnut (castaneous); whole body shiny,
evenly and distinctly punctured, punctures largest on head |
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| . |  |
Southern Africa (dubiously West Africa, may be striatidens) - helvolus |
| -- | Petiole node widest posteriorly | 10 |
| 10 |  Petiole
node distinctly longer than wide; TL major 7 mm, HL 2.1 X HW, elongated
head, with slightly arcuate sides; petiole with an elongated ventral
lamina |
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| . |  |
Cameroun & Zaïre - politus |
| -- |  Petiole
node shorter than wide; TL major 8.5 mm; head about one-fifth longer
than wide; petiole with ventral process posteriorly produced into a
short spine; petiole quite shiny; colour chestnut (castaneous) as helvolus |
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| . |  |
East Africa (poss. West) - brevipennis |
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Genus Dorylus and Key | © 2007 - Brian Taylor CBiol
FIBiol FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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