Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis Emery

Type location Gabon (Crematogaster gabonensis n. sp., Emery, 1899e: 484, worker; Santschi, 1911i: 281, male) - see below
junior synonym (here) fuscitatis (Cremastogaster gabonensis Em. v. fuscitatis n. v., Forel, 1913h: 351, worker) from Zaïre, Kondué, collected by Luja - see below and  http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?name=casent0908606
(see Bolton, 1995) .

Emery's (1899e) description is at .

Male first described by Santschi (1911i), from Ivory Coast, collected by J H Lohier, 1911, with numerous workers .

Forel (1913h) described fuscitatis as identical to the type but - TL 3.9-5.5; colour darker brown and gaster brownish-black. Photographs of this form can be seen below.

Distinguishing features - Polymorphic. Overall colour deep castaneous brown; head, antenna, especially the apical two segments of funiculus and tarsi lighter. Head unsculptured and polished; lateral mesonotum and propodeum including spines oblique to longitudinally striate; otherwise all surfaces shiny but dulled by dense decumbent pilosity. Head in full face view very like clariventris, frontally densely but finely longitudinally striate, right across from cheek to cheek but fading around midline to a completely smooth occiput. Mandibles striated, apices darker, with five stout equally sized teeth. Scapes fairly short and thick, as are funicular segments, with segment 1 longer than next six; apical two more enlarged to form a short thick club. Pronotum and mesonotum dorsum convex, mesonotal carina shallow; metanotal declivity with a vertical drop into shallow groove. Propodeum convex in profile ahead of long, flat, sharp spines. Petiole short and thick in lateral view, with short anterior ventral tooth. Few erect hairs, except on anterior margin of clypeus, and where there are erect hairs they are hardly longer or thicker than the decumbent pilosity. Antennae, tibiae and tarsi very bristly.

Wheeler (1922) also listed it (under Atopogyne) from Ivory Coast (by Lohier) and Cameroun (at Victoria by Fickendey).

Found on cocoa in Ghana by Majer, who found it in 3.5% of his 144 pkd samples at Kade, with 700-800 workers per sample (1975, 1976a, b, c). Also from cocoa mistletoe (Room, 1972a, 1975), where it ranked 13th in terms of abundance (550 workers) but was in less than 30 of 630 samples of mistletoe/cocoa junction.

It (identified by B. Bolton) was among the dominant species studied at Nko'emvon in Cameroun by Jackson (1984), occurring on 36% of the trees in one cocoa plot and negatively associated with Tetramorium aculeatum. Jackson described it as being independent of canopy density but did not mention its nest sites. Also identified by Bolton, it was reported as one of the six most common species on oil palm at Mpundu and Mondoni, southwestern Cameroun, by Dejean et al (1997). At Mpundu it occupied 86% of the oil palms, and at Mondoni it was on 26.2% to 81.6% of the palms. They noted that it builds "numerous smooth carton nests distributed in the oil palm foliage but not against the trunk as do other carton nest builder Crematogaster species". The largest carton nests in their survey reached 35 cm in diameter.

The photomontage of a worker from the type collection is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0904479.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	Cameroun G Debout & A Dalecky Cameroon 50	5.iv.2001 Ebodjé 2°33.97' N 9°50.62' E	on Terminalia catappa in village	3
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	Cameroun A Fotso Kuate Crematogaster sp8	25.iii.2008 Awae II 03°54'30" N 11°25'58" E	Quadrat in forest	1
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer ON1	28.xi.2010 Dzanga-Sangha 2°27'53.6"N 16°13'30.5"E	414 m; nuit, équipe 1, UV : 18h30-6h30, bord lac 7	5
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det. Workers & Queen	Central African Republic P Annoyer OT1	29.xi.2010 Dzanga-Sangha 2°28'08.6"N 16°13°32.1" E	385 m; nuit, équipe 1, UV : 18h30-6h, petite clairière dans forêt à 20 m du bord du lac 5 "AA1"	3
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det. Queen	Central African Republic P Annoyer OZ	28.xi.2010 Dzanga-Sangha 2°28'49.5"N 16°12'55.9"E	392 m; nuit, UV : 17h30 - 3h, Azobé, sol, camp de base lac 1	3
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer PA	28.xi.2010 Dzanga-Sangha 2°28'49.5"N 16°12'55.9"E	392 m; nuit, UV : 17h30 - 3h, Azobé, canopée, camp de base lac 1	2
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer PAA6	30.xi.2010 Dzanga-Sangha 2°28'49.5"N 16°12'55.9"E	392 m; Azobé, banane, canopée	1
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	CAR P Moretto 2012	Sangha PN Ndoki 02˚28'39" N 22˚01'20" E	04-06 forêt à Gilbertiodendron, piège malaise	3
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	CAR P Moretto 2012	Sangha PN Ndoki 02˚28'39" N 22˚01'20" E	05-02 & 03 forêt à Gilbertiodendron, piège malaise	2
Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) gabonensis B Taylor det.	CAR P Moretto 1-2.iii.2012	Sangha PN Ndoki 02˚28'39" N 22˚01'20" E	06-08 Camp 1, forêt dense diversifiée, piège iule minor worker	5

The photomontages are of workers collected in Cameroun - south-western tropical coastal forest area between Edéa and Campo (McKey Wolbachia project) - Cameroon 50 from location Ebodjé.

Cameroon 50 minors.

The photomontage is of a worker from Cameroun, Awae II; collector A Fotso Kuate (fk crematogaster sp9).

The photomontage is of a worker from Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha; collector A Fotso Kuate (CAR PAA6).

The photomontage is of a worker from Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha; collector A Fotso Kuate (CAR ON1).

The photomontage is of a queen from Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha; collector A Fotso Kuate (CAR ON1).

Hitherto unreported queen.

The photomontage of fuscitatis is derived from http://mcz-28168.oeb.harvard.edu/mcz/FMPro?-DB=Image.fm&-Lay=web&-Format=images.htm&Species_ID=29389&-Find.