Tapinoma lugubre (Santschi)

Type location, Zimbabwe (Tapinoma gracile For. var. lugubre, n. var., Santschi, 1917b: 288, worker & male); worker and male known (see Bolton, 1995) .

Santschi's (1917b) description is at .

Raised to species and described by Arnold (1926: 222), whose description follows -
WORKER - TL l.6-1.8 mm. Sepia-brown, the legs and antennae smoky yellow, the tarsi very pale straw-yellow. Slightly shining. Microscopically reticulate-rugulose. Pubescence greyish, decumbent, microscopic and fairly abundant all over. Pilose hairs absent, except a few on the gaster and anterior margin of the clypeus.
Head a little less than one-third longer than wide, slightly narrowed in front, the sides feebly convex, the posterior margin very slightly convex. The middle of the anterior margin of the clypeus shallowly concave. Mandibles 6-dentate, shining, punctured. Eyes large, placed in front of the middle of the sides. The scapes extend beyond the hind margin of the head by nearly one-fourth of their length; all the joints of the funiculus at least twice as long as wide. Pronotum wider than long, and as long as the mesonotum. The latter is slightly longer than wide in front, much narrower and with a higher convexity transversely than in gracilis [demissum] also narrower behind (in gracilis is as wide in front as behind and nearly flat above). The dorsum of the propodeum is a little wider than long, and is as convex as the mesonotum; it rises gently towards the declivity. The declivity is nearly vertical, almost twice as long as the dorsum, and separated from it by a fine raised line, the junction of the two faces sharply angular. Petiole scale parallel-sided, oblong.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Quite distinct from gracilis, a narrower and smaller insect, with the dorsum of the thorax not in the least flattened as in that species, and with the two faces of the propodeum sharply delimited. (R.M., G.A. colls.)".

Nigeria specimens (as Tapinoma detorquens, Taylor, 1978: 51). WORKER. TL 1.87 mm, HL 0.51, HW 0.39, SL 0.47, PW 0.25
Colour medium dark yellow-brown, shiny. Eyes set well forward of the midline of the sides of the head. Erect seta at the gastral apex and on the clypeus and mandibles. Dense fine flat pubescence. Propodeum with an acute apex.
Cameroun specimen notes - mandibles and appendages pale yellowish-brown.
Ground nesting, in dead wood and in the soil. It was fairly abundant on cocoa at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Idi Ayunre, on up to 5% of trees in some blocks, but usually not so common. It can be positively associated with Crematogaster depressa and negatively associated with Pheidole megacephala (Taylor, 1977). Tends aphids. Also found on native herbaceous vegetation, cashew, kola and oil palm.

The photomontage is of specimens collected in Cameroun - south-western tropical coastal forest area between Edéa and Campo (McKey Wolbachia project) - Cameroon 39 from location Nkoloboundé, 05 April 2001, on soil and surface in the village. Other images can be seen in the folder at -

The photomontage is of a specimen from Ghana, collected by S Sky Stephens, 2006. Other images can be seen in the folder at - .

Specimens from Congo, Brazzaville, collected by pitfall trapping, Yves Braet & Eric Nzassi, 19.viii.2007, are shown in the folder at - .