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 detail of his actual study of specimens, although he noted he had seen the specimens in Basel and Parigi, as well as material in London.
Provisional key to Major morph of African species - based primarily on historical descriptions, caution is urged and the main descriptions should be perused to verify any diagnosis; illustrations of perceived minors also are given where possible.
| A1 |  Alitrunk profile convex in a
smooth elongated curve, propodeal declivity (when obvious from angle
with dorsum) very short (at least two species-complexes); minors with
relatively short scapes and legs cf pompeius-group  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; Majors
dark red-brown to near black; minors lighter brown-orange to
yellow-red; Minors with long scapes and legscaffer, 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 Major < 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 |
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| ¤ | 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 |
| ¤ | Minor 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 |
| ¤ | Major only, status uncertain as description inadequate but probably = maculatus | Sierra Leone - rubripes |
| ¤ | Minor & 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 & Senegal - 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 |
| 6 | Head and body with substantial areas brown or lighter | 7 |
| -- | Head and whole body unicolorous black or nearly so | 7a |
| 7 |  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. |
| . |
 Speculatively, I have separated this as the major of the kohli variety |
. |
| . |
 Speculatively, I have separated this as the minor of the kohli variety |
aequatorialis kohli |
| 7a |  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 |
| - | TL > 11 mm | - |
| 8 | Hind tibiae without setae on the lower margin (or no more than one or two) | 9 |
| -- | Hind tibiae with at least five setae on the lower margin | 10 |
| 9 |  TL
15 mm |
Central African Republic - new species - carensis |
| -- | TL > 12 mm | 9B |
| 9B |  Major
TL > 11 mm; poly- or trimorphic, Major only moderately sized; head
& thorax uniformly dark brown, gaster with distinctive pattern of
yellow-brown patches, legs almost entirely yellow. Minors more
predominantly yellow brown; tibiae without setae |
. |
| . |  |
Sahel zone - aegyptiacus |
| -- |  Major TL 10.8 mm; pilosity brownish-yellow; head and most
of body blackish-brown; petiole, coxae and femora ochreous; tibiae
without setae |
. |
| . |  |
South Africa - baynei |
| - | Hind tibiae with at least five setae on the lower margin | - |
| 10 |   Major 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 |
| -- | Major 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; tibiae with setae on lower border |
Pan-African, tramp - maculatus |
| -- |  Major
TL 15 mm plus (estimate); HL 4.8 HW 3.5; 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; tibiae with setae |
. |
| . |  |
. |
| . |  Minor TL ca 11.0 mm, SL 2.8, posterior tibia 3.0;
alitrunk elongated |
CAR & Benin - desantii |
| -- |  Probably extra-limital, Major 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; Majors dark red-brown to
near black; Minors lighter brown-orange to yellow-red |
pompeius-group - 13 |
| - | miscellaneous species | - |
| 12a |  Major
TL 16 mm; Minor TL ca 7 mm; dorsum of petiole steeply rounded and with
a longitudinal weak impression (at least in minors); head large, domed
and short; appendages relatively short and slender; almost entirely
matt; major uniform reddish-brown, with the head and gaster often
blackish. Minors with prismatic tibiae which have a line of short
setae |
Sahel zone into western Asia - oasium |
| -- |  Minor only in original description; TL 15 mm (size similar
to etiolipes) |
. |
| . |  |
. |
| . |  Major (new finding) TL > 23 mm, HW 5 HL 5.3 |
Congo Basin (north?) - brevicollis |
| -- |   Minor
only; TL 8.5-9 mm, SL 3.1 mm; castaneous brown, with alitrunk and
appendages lighter |
Cameroun & Congo - donisthorpei |
| -- |
 Minor only known, TL 11 to 12.5 mm; entirely dark brownMajor, TL ca 18 mm, shown from the Central African Republic is a probable major; associated with the minor from the same location, which differs somewhat primarily being larger TL ca 14.5 mm; the head has the distinctive triangular elevation on the clypeus |
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Angola & Congo Basin - varus |
| - | pompeius-group | - |
| 13 | Head wider than long | 13a |
| -- | Head not wider than long | 14 |
| 13a |  Major 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 brownish-black with slight brown tint,
appendages lighter; minor clypeus with distinctive anteriorly raised
median carina |
. |
| . |  Minor
TL 12-13 mm, HL 3.0 SL 5; frontal area transverse, rhomboid; frontal
carinae close together, sinuous and slightly divergent; head regularly
narrowing from the anterior border to the occiput, sides regularly but
only mildly convex; eyes large and centered at mid-length of the head;
alitrunk elongated and slender, mildly convex; propodeum with declivity
shorter than dorsum; petiole scale cuneiform, convex on both faces,
near truncated at the summit, slightly higher than long; with long
silky, sharp, red brown hairs spaced across whole body, rising out of
punctules; pubescence sparse, fine, reddish, more abundant on the rear
of the head; tibiae and scapes with oblique short but abundant rusty
pilosity. |
Southern Africa & Congo Basin (Guinea?) - wellmani |
| ¤ |   Minor only, TL 8.5 mm; Major (new specimens) TL > 15 mm |
Cameroun - crawleyi |
| ¤ | Minor (?) 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; Major 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 |  Major
TL 12.5-14 mm; overall shape narrow and elongated; head dark brown,
body brown, petiole and legs yellow-brown |
. |
| . |  Minor
TL 11 to 12 mm; head very long (3.4 mm, without the mandibles) compared
with its width (1.9 mm), the portion in front of the eyes nearly as
broad as long, a little broader in front, with straight sides; behind
the eyes it narrows rapidly into a neck with concave sides, the
occipital border being somewhat less than one-third of the anterior
border; eyes prominent, situated more than twice their length from the
occipital border; colour paler; clypeus, cheeks, funiculi, petiole,
ventral portions of thorax, coxae, and femora yellow; mandibles,
scapes, posterior portion of head, tibiae, and dorsal surface of thorax
and gaster brown |
Zaïre (Madagascar?) - langi |
| -- | TL > 14 mm | 17 |
| 17 | Major 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 | Major 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 |
| -- |  Major
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 |
| - | Major 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 |
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West Africa & Congo Basin - pompeius |
| -- | TL 15 mm, head near square, HW 4.2 HL 4.3; cf cognatus head wider less narrowed in front, without erect hairs on genae; long fine decumbent pubescence all over but sparse; tibiae with numerous ventral setae | 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, Major TL > 16 mm; Minor ca 10.5; erect
pilosity very long, sparse on alitrunk; colour predominantly
yellow-brown |
. |
| . |  |
eastern Zaïre & Kenya - posticus |
| -- |  Major
TL ca 16.5 mm, HW 2.8, HL 3.4, CI 82, SL 6.9, SI 246; very distinctive
colouration of bright orange alitrunk, gaster and legs, contrasting
with the shiny almost black head; adundant rust erect hairs on whole of
the body and appendages; legs, posterior femur 7.2 mm, and antennae
exceptionally long, scapes surpass the occiput by more than 3 times
their own length |
Central African Republic - new species - hirsutus |
| - |
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 Major < 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 |
| -- |  Major
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 |  Major TL 18 mm; HW significantly less than HL; colour
generally like solon but larger and with shiny smooth
mandibles; legs with abundant semi-decumbent short hairs |
. |
| . |  Media/minor, TL ca 14 mm |
West Africa & Congo Basin - lycurgus |
| -- | Major HW near equal to HL | 25a |
| 25a | Major 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 |
. |
| . |  Major |
. |
| . |  Media/minor |
Western Africa (Angola to Sierra Leone) - brutus |
| -- |  Major TL 13.5-15 mm; head just longer than wide, petiole
with sharp dorsal border; mandibles striated, occiput smooth; dark
brown, head near black |
. |
| . |  Media/minor |
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 |  Major
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 but 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 |
. |
| . |  |
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 |
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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 |
. |
| . |  |
Congo Basin (?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 |
. |
| . |  |
|
| . |  |
Congo Basin - 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 |
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Genus page |
© 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Brian Taylor CBiol FSB FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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