Melissotarsus weissi Santschi

Type location (holotype female) Congo (Melissotarsus Weissi, n. sp., Santschi, 1910c: 356, illustrated, queen; Bolton, 1982: 335, male) collected at Brazzaville by A. Weiss - damaged type see  http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?name=casent0913017
junior synonyms
titubans (Delage-Darchen, 1972: 216, illustrated, all forms) from Ivory Coast - see https://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0913762
major (Melissotarsus major, n. sp., Santschi, 1919h: 85, worker; Santschi, 1923e: 277, queen & male) from Zaïre, collected at Penghe, by J Bequaert - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0913018
all forms known (see Bolton, 1982, 1995) .

Santschi's (1910c) description of the queen is at and Santschi's (1919h) description of major is at . Santschi's (1923e) description of the queen and male of major is at . Delage-Darchen's description of titubans (1972a) is at . Bolton's modern description (1982) is at .

WORKER - TL 2.3-3.0 mm; similar to beccarii but darker in colour; anterior margin and lateral margins of alitrunk dorsum both angled (Bolton, 1982 illustrated, profile and head).

In the wider text, page 335, Bolton had: "I define weissi as having a dark brown to strongly scletoized male and a similarly coloured female in which the postpetiole in dorsal view is quite narrow (1.2-1.40 broader than long) and has a rounded or even hemispherical anterior margin.

Bolton (1982) reported a finding by himself at CRIG, Ghana and another at Kamaiembi, Zaïre, by H. Schouteden.

The illustration of titubans by Delage-Darchen (1972, right), although somewhat of a sketch, appears to show the sharp angle at the anterior of the pronotum but gives no impression of there being a well-marked angle between the sides and dorsum of the alitrunk. She also noted that all specimens were similarly coloured and sculptured. This is comfirmed by the photomontage below.

As Melissotarsus titubans described from Lamto, Ivory Coast by Delage-Darchen (1972), who reported its biology. Nests in narrow tunnels under the bark of forest gallery trees and has the curious habit of holding its middle legs upwards, apparently touching the roof of the tunnels. They live in large groups, possibly being polygynous and tend coccids.

The photomontage of titubans is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0101464

Oxford University Museum specimens

Melissotarsus weissi B Taylor det. Male

Central African Republic P Annoyer PU

30.xi.2010 Dzanga-Sangha 2°28'49.5"N 16°12'55.9"E

392 m; nuit, UV, Azobé, sol, camp de base lac 1

1

The photomontage is of a male from Central African Republic, Dzangha-Sangha NP; collector P Annoyer (CAR PU)

The photomontage is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0401869 (note - there it is is labelled as emeryi, but the lateral margins of the alitrunk are distinctly angled).
Collection details - Locality: Central African Republic: Prefecture Sangha-Mbaéré; Parc National Dzanga-Ndoki, Mabéa Bai, 21.4 km 53° NE Bayanga; 03°02'00"N 016°24'36"E, 510m. Collection Information: Collection codes: BLF4000. Date: 1-7 May 2001. Collected by: B.L.Fisher. Method: EC19 sifted litter (leaf mould, rotten wood). Habitat: rainforest. Transect Type: MW 50 sample transect, 5m Transect Sample No.: 45.