Camponotus (Myrmamblys) chapini Wheeler

Type location Zaïre (Camponotus (Myrmamblys) chapini new species, Wheeler, 1922a: 254, illustrated, major & minor workers) Lukolela, Lang & Chapin - see below
subspecies ganzii (Camponotus (Myrmamblys) chapini Wheeler ganzii subsp. nov., Weber, 1943c: 386, major & minor workers) from South Sudan, Imatong Mts, 4100', N A Weber - see below
major and worker described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Wheeler's description (1922) was -
WORKER MAJOR - length 5.5 to 6.5 mm. Head very large in proportion to the remainder of the body, longer than broad (without the mandibles, 2.4 X 2.2 mm), broader behind than in front, with deeply excised posterior, rather convex lateral borders and prominent, rounded posterior corners. Mandibles stout, convex, coarsely 6-toothed. Clypeus flattened, strongly carinate, its anterior border notched on each side, with a short median lobe, angularly emarginate in the middle and rounded at the corners. Frontal area obsolete; frontal groove distinct; frontal carinae approximated in front, subparallel and widely separated behind, nearly as far apart as their distance from the lateral borders of the head. Eyes small and flat. Antennae short, scapes (1.2 mm) curved, somewhat flattened basally and thickened at their tips, which extend only about three times their greatest diameter beyond the eyes. Thorax small, short, and robust, not longer than the head, very broad through the pronotum, which is as broad as long, very rapidly narrowed to the laterally compressed epinotum; the mesonotum and propodeum together not longer than the pronotum. Promesonotal suture strongly impressed, metanotum very small and short, but distinct. In profile the general dorsal outline of the thorax is arcuate, but the mesonotum is somewhat raised in front at the suture above the pronotum; the propodeum sloping, rounded, with indistinct, subequal base and declivity. Petiole small, its scale elliptical from behind, evenly rounded above, with a slight angular projection in the middle of the superior border; in profile scarcely thicker below than above, much compressed anteroposteriorly, about three times as high as thick, with blunt superior border. Gaster much smaller than the head, the first segment anteriorly truncated, the dorsal surface convex. Legs rather stout, tibiae slightly flattened, tarsal claws rather long. Shining throughout; mandibles coarsely punctate, at their bases shagreened and subopaque. Clypeus and head sharply shagreened and covered with coarse, sparse punctures, which are very uniform on the clypeus and cheeks, somewhat shallower and more scattered on the front and vertex. Posterior corners of head with a few elongate foveolae. Thorax and gaster more finely shagreened than the. head, the gaster transversely, and both with scattered piligerous punctures. Hairs yellow, sparse, coarse, erect, and rather short. Petiolar border with four setae; gula with only a few short hairs; cheeks hairless. Scapes naked; tibiae with numerous, very short subappressed hairs. Pubescence sparse, appressed, distinct, short on the mandibles, clypeus, and cheeks, longer on the gaster. Head deep castaneous, almost black; mandibles and anterior portion of clypeus deep red; antennae, pronotum, coxae, and legs brownish yellow or testaceous; remainder of thorax, petiole, gaster, and an inverted V-shaped spot on the dorsal surface of the pronotum, pale castaneous.

WORKER MINOR - length 3 to 4.5 mm. Differing from the major in its much smaller size and the shape of the head, which is as broad as long, a little broader behind than in front, with straight sides and feebly convex posterior border. Clypeus strongly carinate as in the major, but its anterior lobe with straight entire anterior border and subdentate angles. Mandibles smoother than in the major, much less distinctly punctate. Antennal scapes extending about one-fifth their length beyond the posterior corners of the head. Sculpture, pilosity, and color much as in the major, worker, but the thorax uniformly brown throughout, and the head paler, though darker than the thorax and gaster.
Described from five major and eleven minor workers from Garamba, Zaïre (type locality), a major from Medje, and a minor from Faradje (Lang and Chapin). The specimen from the locality last mentioned is from the stomach of a frog (Rana occipitalis) and three of the workers from Garamba are from the stomach of a toad (Bufo regularis). According to a note accompanying the Garamba specimens, "these ants nest in small conical termitaria", and, "there are few of these termitaria without ants, which sometimes run about in the same galleries as the termites but seem more often to have no dealings with these insects".

Listed as a savannah species in Ivory Coast by Lévieux & Louis (1975).

The photomontage is of a cotype of Camponotus chapini. The original photographs, together with enlarged images, are from the MCZ, Harvard University, website at - MCZ link.

See also http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0911658

Weber's (1943c) description of ganzii is at . The photomontage is of a cotype of Camponotus chapini ganzii Weber (1943c). The original photographs, together with enlarged images, are from the MCZ, Harvard University, website at - MCZ link.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Camponotus (Myrmamblys) chapini B Taylor det.	Liberia E Poirier Yekepa Camp 4 PF 7	6.iv.2013 Nimba County 07°33’04" N 08°33’17" E	Pitfall trap Floodplain & marsh 501 m asl minor	1
Camponotus (Myrmamblys) chapini B Taylor det.	Liberia E Poirier Yekepa Camp 4 PF 9	6.iv.2013 Nimba County 07°33’04" N 08°33’17" E	Pitfall trap Floodplain & marsh 501 m asl minor	1

The photomontage is of a minor from Liberia, collector E Poirier (Yekepa camp 4  PF7).