SUBFAMILY DOLICHODERINAE
Genus Technomyrmex Mayr
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The Ants of Africa SUBFAMILY DOLICHODERINAE Genus Technomyrmex Mayr |
| Technomyrmex Introduction |
Key to workers of African species
Derived in part from that compiled by Wheeler (1922) for Engramma;
with additions and amendments following Bolton (2007).
| - | BT KEY | SPECIES | Bolton 2007 status |
| 1 |  Head
shape approximately rectangular or ovoid, where impressed posteriorly or
anteriorly (the clypeal margin) the impression is no more than shallow |
(subgenus Technomyrmex) 13 | . |
| -- |  Head
shape cordiform, clypeus with distinct median notch |
(subgenus Engramma) 2 | |
| - | (subgenus Engramma) | - | . |
| 2 | Notch on the clypeal margin more or less semi-circular with rounded lateral corners | 3 | . |
| -- | Head shape cordiform, clypeus with distinct medial notch which has sharp corners | 5 | |
| - | . | - | . |
| 3 |  TL
3-3.2 mm; pilosity of dark erect bristly hairs; brownish yellow; median
notch of clypeus semi-circular or nearly so; separated by transverse
fine rugulose sculpture on the propodeal declivity |
eastern &
southern Africa - arnoldinus |
in arnoldinus group |
| -- | Propodeum with domed profile and with no marked sculpture other than fine spiculation | 4 | . |
| 4 |  TL
2-7-4.3 mm; dorsal surfaces alitrunk finely and densely
reticulo-punctate; overall colour dark-brown to black; mid- and
hind-legs with coxae, trochanters and basal quarter to third of femora
white to yellow |
West Africa &
Congo Basin east to Kenya - andrei |
in bicolor group |
| -- | Apparently separable from andrei solely by having yellow parts where they are white in andrei and the hind femur wholly black | Gabon - parandrei |
Bolton n.sp. in bicolor group |
| -- |  Apparently
separable from andrei solely on the basis of its pale colour |
Central African
Republic - metandrei |
Bolton n.sp. in bicolor group |
| - | . | - | . |
| 5 | Long slender species with elongated head and alitrunk | 6 | . |
| -- | Relatively short and without obvious elongation of head or alitrunk | 8 | |
| 6 | No image - frontal carinae with a single seta; TL 3.2-3.3 mm; uniformly medium to dark brown | Mozambique - taylori |
as "taylori" in camerunensis group |
| -- | Frontal carinae with 2-3 setae, the posteriormost close to the level of the rear of the eye | 7 | |
| 7 |  More
or less uniformly dark brown to black; TL 3.0-4.2 mm |
Cameroun and Congo
Basin east to Kenya - camerunensis |
new status in camerunensis group |
| -- |  Larger,
TL 4.5-5.1 and more elongated; eyes set further forward; lighter in
colour |
Gabon - schoedli |
new species in camerunensis group |
| - | . | - | . |
| 8 | Scapes surpassing the occiput | 9 | . |
| -- | Scapes not surpassing the occiput | 10 | . |
| 9 |  Scapes
surpassing the occiput by about one-fourth of their length; TL ca 3 mm;
colour dark, pubescence abundant; fine brownish hairs on thorax and
gaster; clypeus with wider median notch than voeltzkowi |
East Africa - ilgi |
in ilgi group |
| -- |  Scapes
surpassing the occiput by one-third to two-fifth of their length; TL
2.5-3.0 mm (Bolton 2-7-3.7 mm); clypeal notch narrow and deep; dorsum
of head behind the clypeus entirely without erect setae; short
inconspicuous pale pubescence all over; black, clypeus, femora and
scapes brown, rest of appendages yellowish |
Eastern & southern Africa - voeltzkowi |
in textor group [dubious grouping as all others have the clypeal margin shallowly impressed] |
| - | . | - | . |
| 10 | Head roughly triangular with curved sides; propodeum profile no more than weakly convex | 11 | new species in lasiops group |
| -- | Head, without the mandibles, as broad as long, deeply excavated behind; propodeum profile with a distinct rise from the metanotal groove and a domed transition to the decilivity | 12 | . |
| 11 |  Dorsum
of head behind the clypeus with 4 pairs of erect setae; TL 2.3-2.7 mm;
overall yellowish brown, gaster slightly darker |
Cameroun, Gabon,
Congo - lasiops |
new species in lasiops group |
| -- |  Without
erect hairs on the head or body; TL 2.8-3.3 mm; antennal scapes slightly
surpassing the occipital border; funicular joints 2 to 7 slightly longer
than broad; base of propodeum nearly as long as the declivity,
horizontal; pilosity well developed but ; colour anteriorly red-yellow,
posteriorly dark brown; |
Zaïre, Cameroun & Gabon - lujae |
in lujae group |
| 12 |  Antennal
scapes not reaching the occipital border; funicular joints 2 to 7
broader than long; base of propodeum much shorter than the declivity,
sloping forward; TL 2.25 to 3 mm; head strongly cordiform, deeply
scalloped posteriorly; eyes large, flat, anterior of mid-point of head;
erect hairs fairly numerous on all surfaces; brown, gaster blackish (congolensis
much lighter) |
Congo Basin -
laurenti |
in laurenti group |
| -- |  TL
1.8 to 2.2 mm; dull yellow, with brown gaster; smaller, alitrunk with no
more than two pairs of erect setae on the pronotum (abraded but
insertions clearly marked); over with much less obvious and finer
pubescence and generally much shinier; gaster in contrast with more
abundant but finer and longer erect setae; brownish-yellow with a darker
but still yellowish gaster |
Congo Basin -
kohli |
j.syn. of laurenti in laurenti group |
 |
subgenus Technomyrmex | . | albipes
group . |
| 13 | Dorsum of head behind the clypeus entirely without setae; clypeal margin with a shallow median impression less than semicircular | 14 | textor group; parviflavus complex |
| -- | Dorsum of head behind the clypeus with setae present | 16 | |
| 14 |  TL
2.5-2.8; third gastral tergite with setae; uniformly dark brown, except
for yellow trochanters and the middle and hind coxae |
West Africa &
Congo Basin - senex |
new species - textor group; parviflavus complex |
| -- | With gaster distinctly darker that the head and alitrunk; gastral tergites 1-3 without setae; | 14 | . |
| 15 |  TL
1.9-2.9; overall dull yellow, head and gaster slightly darker; propodeal
dorsum shorter than length of declivity to the spiracle |
West Africa &
Congo Basin - parviflavus |
new species - textor group; parviflavus complex |
| -- | 
TL 2.7-3.0 mm; scapes longer and eyes slightly smaller than parviflavus,
the propodeal profile shows the length of the dorsum to be greater than
the length of the declivity to the spiracle |
Gabon - sycorax |
new species - textor group; parviflavus complex. |
| - | . | . | . |
| 16 |  Gastral
tergites 2-3 without setae; TL 3.4-3.6 mm; head width and length
approximately the same; with posterior wide and shallowly impressed;
metanotal groove deep; propodeum declivity flat and sub-bordered; quite
dense greyish pubescence not hiding fine dense puncturate sculpturation;
black, appendages dark brown; shiny, with dense puncturation |
Zaïre -
rusticus |
in albipes group but in no named complex. |
| -- | Gastral tergites 2-3 with setae, ranging from 1-2 pairs to many | 17 | . |
| 17 | Dorsal or outer surfaces of middle and hind tibiae with numerous suberect to erect setae | 18 | . |
| -- | Dorsal or outer surfaces of middle and hind tibiae without any setae | 19 | . |
| 18 | No image - TL 2.75-3.25 mm; shiny but muted by quite dense pubescence; erect hairs on all parts; rust-red with gaster black; | West Africa - semiruber | in albipes group |
| -- | Queen only known; TL 5.4 mm, generally like schoutedeni but with prominent fine setae all over | Cameroun - pilipes | unchanged, in schoutedeni group |
| - | . | . | . |
| 19 | Dorsal surfaces of pro- and mesonotum without setae | 20 | . |
| -- | Dorsal surfaces of either pro- and mesonotum, or both, with at least one pair of erect setae | 21 | |
| 20 | No image but very close to schoutedeni - TL 3.4-3.5 mm; clypeal notch broad and shallow, the median border without an impression; funicular joints shorter; colour yellowish red, gaster black, its segments narrowly bordered with yellow | Tanzania & Zaïre - zimmeri | in schoutedeni group |
| -- |  TL
3.6-4.3 mm; scape surpasses occiput by about 1/6 its own length;
alitrunk weakly convex with a marked suture; mesonotum dorsum slightly
long than wide, with raised spiracles; propodeum strongly domed but more
convex than in semiruber, spiracles well raised tubercular with
a strong hair; head and pronotum subopaque, partly matt, very densely
puncturate, rest of alitrunk matt and densely reticulo-punctate; gaster
shiny but finely reticulate; very few erect hairs, 2-3 yellowish on
alitrunk; pubescence yellowish, very fine, quite distinct and abundant
throughout; brown, mandibles dull red, gaster dull yellow or slightly
brown |
Zaïre - schoutedeni | in schoutedeni group |
| . | . | . | . |
| 21 |  Head
without erect setae behind the level of the posterior margin of the eye;
gastral tergites 1-4 with numerous erect setae |
22 | . |
| -- | Head with one or more pairs of erect setae behind the level of the posterior margin of the eye | 25 | |
| 22 |  TL
1.7 mm; bicoloured, head and alitrunk yellow (posterior head and
alitrunk dorsum often darker, as example), gaster black |
Panafrican - nigriventris | in albipes group |
| -- | Darker brown to black | 23 | |
| 23 |  Lateral
margins of propodeal declivity without erect setae; TL 2.4-2.5 mm; head
longer than wide, much narrower anteriorly; eyes longer than wide;
colour brown, erect hairs quite long |
West Africa & Congo Basin - moerens | . |
| -- | Lateral margins of propodeal declivity with 1-3 pairs of erect setae | 24 | |
| 24 |  Dark
species, with pale tarsi, mandibles, scapes and funiculi; TL 2.4-2.9 mm;
scapes not surpassing the occiput; gastral tergites 1-4 with numerous
erect seate; propodeum dorsum and declivity with a rounded transition
|
Tramp species - albipes | in albipes group |
| -- | 
Propodeum dorsum and declivity with a distinct angle at the transition;
larger eyes than albipes; TL 2.4-3.1 mm |
tramp species, not known from Africa - vitiensis | in albipes group |
| - | . | . | . |
| 25 | Larger species, HL > 0.80, HW > 0.75, SL > 0.70; propodeal profile with a long curved dorsum | 26 | . |
| -- | Smaller species | 27 | |
| 26 | 
TL 3.5-3.6 mm; gaster black, strongly contrasting with the head and
alitrunk; more densely hairy |
Tanzania - hostilis | in albipes group |
| -- |  TL
3.4-3.5 mm; generally uniform blackish-brown to black; middle and hind
tarsi yellow lighter than tibiae and femora |
Zimbabwe - menozzii | in albipes group |
| 27 |  TL
2.2-2.5 mm; variably coloured from generally uniform light brown to
black; sometimes with the gaster darker; legs lighter than head and body |
Pan-African & Tramp - pallipes | in albipes group |
| -- |  TL
2.6-3.2 mm; eyes smaller; more brightly coloured with head light
orange-brown, alitrunk and petiole dull yellow, gaster slightly darker |
Kenya & Tanzania - vapidus | new species in albipes group |
Described as widespread, 821 workers from fourteen sites, in Ghana semi-deciduous forest leaf litter by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).
Described as widespread, 168 workers from eleven sites, in Ghana semi-deciduous forest leaf litter by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).
Three workers found in secondary forest leaf litter at CRIG, Ghana, by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).
In Ghana, three workers were found in primary forest (Mankrang Forest Reserve) and cocoa (Asiakwa) leaf litter by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).
Described as widespread, 530 workers from ten sites, in Ghana semi-deciduous forest leaf litter by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).
From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on leaf litter and herbs under cocoa (Room, 1971); also on cocoa at Kade by Majer (1975). Also collected by Bigger (1981a) at CRIG, 6 workers by pkd from Amelonado cocoa canopy and 19 from the ground under the cocoa.
From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on leaf litter and nesting in dead wood under cocoa (Room, 1971).
Collected in Ghana by Bigger (1981a) at CRIG, 7 workers from the ground under Amelonado cocoa.
From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on herbs under cocoa (Room, 1971).
From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on leaf litter and nesting in dead wood under cocoa (Room, 1971).
Found on Ghana cocoa at Kade by Majer (1975, 1976b), using pkd, with 14-20 workers per sample.
From Ghana on cocoa mistletoe (Room, 1975).
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© 2007. 2008 - Brian Taylor CBiol
FIBiol FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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