Dorylus (Rhogmus) fuscipennis Emery

Type location Ghana (Emery, 1892d: 570, male only; Forel, 1909d: 224, footnote, worker), collected by Ch. Alluaud, at Assinie, now in Ivory Coast but the area borders on Ghana ; subspecies lugubris (Santschi, 1919b: 232, male) from Ghana, collected at Aburi, by Fisch, and marginiventris Santschi, 1919b: 233, male) from Ivory Coast, collected at Dimbroko, by Le Moult; both the latter corrected by Santschi, 1919h: 91, to place these under fuscipennis and not fimbriatus); male and worker known (see Bolton, 1995) .

Emery's (1892d) description of the male is at . Emery's (1895j) has a description with illustrations of the male, which is at . Forel's (1913h) description of the worker is at . Santschi (1919b) notes the male of marginiventris as with a brighter red alitrunk, the gaster with all segments with a darker brown posterior border, and the head blackish.

Forel (1913h) reported the worker "not previously described" -
TL 3.8-6.9 mm; mandibles elbowed basally, then quite strongly curved and armed with 3 teeth as some distance, with the apical tooth pointed, long and curved, and the other two large and triangular ; mandibles strongly and densely puncturate, smooth between the punctures. Head rectangular, a little longer than wide (up to one-fifth longer); with straight sides and the occiput deeply scalloped in an arc; posterior angles somewhat flared, abruptly and feebly rounded; but the occiput is distinctly flattened. A quite deep occipital notch, continues forward centrally into the post-clypeal notch. Frontal carinae short and distinctly separated. Anterior border of clypeus feebly protruding medially, being a little merged with the frontal carinae. Antennae 10-segmented in largest morph and in the smallest. Scape not reaching the mid-line of the head. Eyeless. Thorax narrower than the head, with a single very distinct, quite deep, suture set a little forward of the mid-point; dorsal profile almost flat; dorsum of propodeum about as wide as long, subbordered and three times as long as the declivity. Petiole node one and a quarter times wider than long, slightly narrower at the anterior. Postpetiole wider than long, not much larger than petiole. Gaster slightly waisted behind the postpetiole.
Head densely, grossly and deeply puncturate; the puncturation being slightly less profound on the thorax; and much finer and more spaced out on the pedicel and gaster. Thorax and pedicel sub-opaque, with similar sculpture but more reticulate; gaster somewhat shiny and feebly reticulate; the posterior two-thirds of the head is smooth between the punctures.
Almost no erect hairs; pubescence semi-decumbent, short, yellowish and distinct on the appendages; sparse on the body.
Head and mandibles rust or brownish; thorax reddish; petiole, gaster and appendages yellow or slightly rust.
Specimens from Aburi, Ghana, collected by Fisch with the males marching in the column. "I have had the worker for a long time but had neglected to describe it before".

The status of the specimens is confusing if, as Wheeler had it, the original description of the male was by Emery (1895, illustrated) from "West Africa, Haitifi?" but Emery (1901c) separated the major worker from fimbriatus on the grounds of fuscipennis having antennae with ten segments (11 in fimbriatus; Forel (1913h) described the worker from Aburi collected by Fisch and yet Santschi (1919b) purported to describe the lugubris male from the same location and by the same collector?.

Also known from Congo (Wheeler, 1922).

The photomontage is of a specimen from the Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha NP , 03°55’13.2" N 16°36’46.1" E 536m, 20.01.2005, U.V : 2h-6h, après Sefka (entre Bambio et croisement Nola/Berberati), dans layon forestier; from on a reduviid bug; collected in forest, 1st hour of the morning; collector Philippe Annoyer.

Other images can be seen in the folder at -