The Ants of Africa
Genus Camponotus subgenus Tanaemyrmex
Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) guttatus Emery

maculatus species-group
TL 8-10-12 mm plus; alitrunk profile convex in a smooth elongated curve, propodeal declivity not or poorly separable from dorsum, if the latter always much shorter than dorsum; petiole scale of major cuneiform, with convex anterior face and quite sharp dorsal margin; mostly bicoloured with alitrunk lighter and distinct light areas on gaster; dimorphic (?) minors with head narrowed posteriorly but not dramatically so and without any "neck".

Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) guttatus Emery

return to key {link to the Hymenoptera Name Server} Type location Cameroun (Camponotus maculatus F. subsp. guttatus n. subsp., Emery, 1899e: 498, major & minor workers & queen; Forel, 1913e: 670, male) collected by Conradt - see below
junior synonym brevitibialis (unavailable name Camponotus (Myrmoturba) maculatus st. radamoides var. brevitibialis, Santschi, 1920g: 181, major & minor workers) from South Africa Zululand, Trägōrdh; referred to guttatus by Baroni Urbani (1972: 132) - no images on Antweb (September 2014)
all forms described (see Bolton, 1995) .


Emery's (1899e) description is at {original description}. Forel's (1913e) description of the male is at {original description}. Santschi's (1920g) note of brevitibialis is at {original description}, Baroni Urbani (1972) simply noted brevitibialis was indistinguishable from guttatus.

Emery (1920c: 6) listed as a subspecies minusculus (Viehmeyer, 1914c: 44, soldier, worker & queen) from Tanzania. Santschi (1915c) in comparison with Camponotus maculatus miserabilis noted how the specimen of a minusculus major sent to him by Viehmeyer had a shorter head which was more convex laterally, the frontal carinae were wider apart and the genae had short silky hairs (none in miserabilis); also the petiole scale was slightly lower. He thought minusculus was close to Camp. traegaordhi (type location South Africa, Santschi, 1914e), from which it differed by its shorter length and less distinctly patchy gaster. With fresh specimens from the area of the type location, I now regard the mostly black Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) minusculus as a quite distinct and well defined species.

Also from Congo areas (Wheeler, 1922), taken "only at night-fall, visiting the tables in the camp.... shy and fast runners".

Bernard (1952) recorded it from Guinea, Mt. Nimba, Area E and Mount Tô, both at 1600 m; citing it as a rare insect, known from Cameroun and Congo; intermediate between maculatus and traegaordhi (known from South Africa and Zimbabwe).


{Camponotus guttatus major}The photomontage of the type major worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0905280.


{Camponotus guttatus minor}The photomontage of a minor worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0905281.


Oxford University Museum specimens

Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) guttatus
B Taylor det.
Niger
David King
King 51
12.ii.2008
Niamey
13°39'31"N
02°06'36"E
185 m asl; hotel grounds, nest excavated in a crack at the base of a building; nocturnal foragers on ground and in trees
3
{album}
Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) abjectus
B Taylor det.
Senegal
Djolof
B Ndiaye
Tessékéré
15.42° N
15.06° W
Tessékéré 20-II-11 PV B2 PF1
41 m; Sahelian savannah, pitfall traps
major & minor workers
6
{album}
Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) guttatus
B Taylor det.
Benin
J-F Vayssieres
RVA 3086
4.iv.2013
Koro
09°22'21'' N
02°40'13'' E
Mangifera indica orchard
prey of Oecophylla longinoda
1400-1500 h
minor
1
{album}

{Camponotus guttatus major}The photomontage is of a major specimen from Niger, Niamey; collector David King; series of workers, see others below.



{Camponotus guttatus media}The photomontage is of a media specimen.


{Camponotus guttatus minima}The photomontage is of a minima specimen.


{Camponotus abjectus minor}The photomontage is of a major worker from Senegal; collector B Ndiaye.


{Camponotus abjectus minor}The photomontage is of a minor worker from Senegal; collector B Ndiaye.

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© 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 - Brian Taylor CBiol FRSB FRES
11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K.

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