Anoplolepis (Anoplolepis) tenella (Santschi)

Type locality Congo (Plagiolepis tenella n. sp., Santschi, 1911c: 363, worker, not illustrated) collected at Brazzaville, by Weiss, 1907, from the stomach of a pangolin - see below; Wheeler, 1922a: 214, male & queen; in Anoplolepis, Emery, 1925b: 18); all forms described; in subgenus Anoplolepis (Bolton, 1995) .

Santschi's (1911c) description is on - . Santschi (1911g) reiterated the description, this is on - . Wheeler (1922a) noted the queen had been reported by Forel but was not described; the male Wheeler gave as TL ca 5 mm, the wings ca 6 mm, the head only half as wide as the alitrunk, wider than long, with small acutely 5-toothed mandibles; colour, sculpture and pilosity as with the worker, but the head is dark brown behind and the alitrunk shining, with three obscure brownish longitudinal blotches on the mesonotum.

Nigeria specimens (as Plagiolepis species T², Taylor, 1978: 43). WORKER TL 3.73 mm, HL 0.98, HW 0.90, SL 1.40, PW 0.65
Colour golden-yellow, gaster darker and shiny, head and alitrunk dull because of sculpturation of very fine reticulation. Erect hairs coarse, brown and abundant on head and gaster. Promesonotal and metanotal sutures marked, metathoracic spiracle raised, propodeum domed in profile.
Collected by us from cocoa at Akure, Ondo State.

Found in pitfall traps, 47-82 individuals, in two cocoa plots at Nko'emvon, Cameroun, by Jackson (1984, identified by Bolton). The average of two individuals per trap suggests that they forage singly.

Also known from Zaïre, where specimens were found running on the ground in a native village (Wheeler, 1922).

Fotso Kuate et al (2008) recently described aspects of A. tenella behaviour. They described it as a ground-nesting ant of the tropical forest zone of Central Africa, commonly associated with African root and tuber scale, Stictococcus vayissieri Richard, an emerging cassava pest. [Geographically, I would not describe the known locations as in "Central Africa"].
See: Fotso Kuate, A., Tindo, M., Hanna, R., Kenne, M. & Goergen, G. 2008. The foraging activity and diet of the ant, Anoplolepis tenella Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in southern Cameroon. African Entomology, 16, 107-114. http://www.biogeography.unibas.ch/Publikationen/papers/FOTSO-KUATE_diet_anoplolepis_tenella_santschi.pdf.

The photomontage of the type worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0912356.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Anoplolepis (Anoplolepis) tenella B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer KL	22.x.2008 Dzanga-Sangha 03°01'49.5" N 16°08'31.7" E	567 m; Camp 2; 18h30-24h; Sur plate-forme à 40 m du sol dans un kungu, à 50 m du camp	1
Anoplolepis (Anoplolepis) tenella B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer Camp 1C & 1E	12-18.x.2008 Dzanga-Sangha 03°03'58.3" N 16°08'59.6" E	528 m; Camp 1C; Ayous Barber campement	5
Anoplolepis (Anoplolepis) tenella B Taylor det.	Congo E Zassi 02-t-1	4-5.ii.2008 Lésio-Louna 03°20'12.0" S 015°28'43.6" E	Village Mah; 24h pitfall trap	1

The photomontage is of a worker from the Central African Republic, Dzanga-Sangha Nature Reserve; collector Philippe Annoyer (CAR KL).