The Ants of Africa

	The Ants of Africa SUBFAMILY DORYLINAE - Genus Dorylus Subgenus Dorylus
*Genus Dorylus* and Key**

Subgenus Dorylus sensu stricto Fabricius (1793: 365)

Diagnostic Features - Antennae 11-jointed, funiculi short and all joints thick; except apical segment, which is longer than wide. Pygidium impressed with sharp margins.

Having perused the several descriptions given or translated by Arnold (1915), it seems to me that the number of species would be reduced somewhat if a modern revision was made.

Santschi's (1910g) gave a collection of drawings of male heads, this is at . * = type images available

¤	Male only - TL 23-24 mm; short mandibles; dark red-black *	Uganda/Zaļre - alluaudi
¤	Male only - my photos of possible males- transferred here from Anomma	West Africa & Congo Basin - atratus
¤	Male only - TL 25 mm; submatt, finely & densely puncturate; unicolourous clear red *	Zaļre - gaudens
¤	Male only - TL 22-24; mandible apparently quite long and sharp . Schoning (2008) have recognised this as the male (senior synonym) of D. (Anomma) gerstaeckeri* and D. (Anomma) lamottei	Western Africa - gribodoi
¤	Male only - TL 21 mm; head, pedicel and gaster dark brown, alitrunk and appendages lighter red-brown to yellowish *	West Africa - mandibularis
¤	Male only - TL 20-22 mm; dark brown *	Western Africa - moestus
	Male only - TL 20 mm; yellowish-brown *	Congo, Uganda - morio
¤	Male only - TL 25-27 mm; shiny dorsally, sides of alitrunk matt; rust, gaster darker *	Zaļre - schoutedeni
¤	Male only - TL not given; mandible shorter; dark brown, head more red-brown *	Zaļre - stadelmanni
¤	Male only - TL 27 mm; dark brown-yellow *	Zaļre - staudingeri
¤	Male only - TL 27 mm; dull orange-brown *	Sahel (Congo, Mali) - sudanicus
¤	Queen only - TL 32 mm; highly polished; ferruginous yellow	South Africa - faurei
¤	Queen only - TL 34 mm; finely puncturate and somewhat dull; light rust-red	South Africa - furcatus
¤	Queen only - TL 30 mm; (brevipennis TL 41; affinis TL 42.5)	Ghana - ghanensis

Subgenus Dorylus key to males.

Note - Kronauer et al. (2007: 4) claim that "the workers of Dorylus spininodis (along with those of D. politus, which could not be included in this study) were recognized as clearly distinct from the Dorylus s.s species of the "D. affinis species group" because they lack caudally projecting spines at the frontal carinae". The D. spininodis specimens I have from Gabon (the Yves Braet collection) display the characters in Emery's brief description and drawings (Emery 1910c) and have the, albeit fairly blunt, "spines".

Provisional key to major workers based mainly on original descriptions

1	TL major 10-11 mm	2
--	TL major < 9 mm	3
2	TL major 10-11 mm; HL one-third greater than HW; petiole longer than wide, trapezoidal in dorsal view with posterior wider; colour chestnut (castaneous)	.
.	.	Pan-African - affinis
--		Senegal west across Sahel to Middle East - aegyptiacus
--	TL major ca 11 mm; head rectangular, one-third longer than wide, sides parallel and wide with posterior angles lobate; gaster and legs with short but distinct pubescence; head polished and shiny, propodeum and petiole densely puncturate and matt; colour black, although much of head and appendages dark red	Zaļre - aggressor
--	Poorly described with no size given but apparently similar to affinis but petiole more curved and wider than long; specimen shown as a likely candidate for the species	Pan-African - depilis
.	TL major < 9 mm	.
3	TL major < 6 mm	4
--	TL major 7-9 mm	5
4	TL major ca 5 mm; petiole broader than long; whole body sharply and evenly puncturate; colour rich ferruginous red, gaster somewhat paler; petiole ventrally only slightly convex with no process of any shape	Zaļre - bequaerti
--	TL 3.5-6.6 mm (Casamance, Senegal); head elongated, mandibles short, slightly arcuate, shiny and striated, basally finely reticulate (minors with more strongly striate mandibles); petiole longer than wide; colour close to affinis but sculpturation feebler (more like politus)	.
.		Senegal - striatidens
.	TL major 7-9 mm	.
5	Head distinctly narrowest posteriorly; frontal carinae with distinct spines at level of antennal insertions TL major ca 8 mm; sides of head strongly curved into posterior points; vertex of head weakly puncturate; colour darker chestnut than helvolus	.
.		Western Africa - braunsi
--	Head not significantly narrowing posteriorly; frontal carinae with distinct spines at level of antennal insertions not always present	6
6	Petiole with ventral process an elongated anterior spine	7
--	Petiole with ventral process an elongated lamina, may be angular posteriorly	8
7	TL major ca 7 mm; head with very distinctly parallel sides; sub-petiolar process long rearward pointed; colour red-brown	West Africa - ?spininodis punctus / species B
--	TL major 6.5 mm; elongated head; subpetiolar process spiniform (but reduced in var. punctus); strong dense puncturation (close to politus)	.
.		Pan-African - spininodis
8	TL major ca 8 mm; smaller and more strongly punctured on head than affinis; petiole node quadrate-globose, with ventral process a wide angle, truncate posteriorly; colour chestnut (castaneous); whole body shiny, evenly and distinctly punctured, punctures largest on head	.
.		Southern Africa (dubiously West Africa, may be striatidens) - helvolus
--	Petiole node widest posteriorly	9
9	Petiole node distinctly longer than wide; TL major 7 mm, HL 2.1 X HW, elongated head, with slightly arcuate sides; petiole with an elongated ventral lamina	.
.		Cameroun & Zaļre - politus
--	Petiole node shorter than wide; TL major 8.5 mm; head about one-fifth longer than wide; petiole with ventral process posteriorly produced into a short spine; petiole quite shiny; colour chestnut (castaneous) as helvolus	.
.		Pan-African - brevipennis

Genus Dorylus and Key

href="dorylus.htm"