Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) nubis Weber new status
 Type location South Sudan (Camponotus
(Myrmoturba) maculatus (Fabr.) nubis,
subsp. nov., Weber, 1943c: 385, illustrated, major & minor workers;
synonymized with C. maculatus
by Baroni Urbani, 1972:
129); collected by N A Weber, Imatong Mountains, elev 5700', 28.vii.39,
No. 1351.
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 Weber's (1943c) description
is at  .
Major TL 9.7 mm, Minor TL 6.4 mm; no mention of any light patches.
Baroni Urbani (1972:
129) appears not to have sighted the Weber type specimen but
synonymized it with maculatus as a simple chromatic
variety close to melanocnemis not with any obvious
morphological differences. The minor specimen below obviously is fairly
distinctive. The
small size strongly suggests this is a distinct species.
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 Type specimen from
the MCZ website at http://insects.oeb.harvard.edu/mcz/FMPro?-DB=Image.fm&-Lay=web&-Format=images.htm&Species_ID=26113&-Find
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Oxford University Museum
specimens
Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) nubis
B Taylor det. |
Sudan
A Omer
S 1-13
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2005-6
South Sudan
9°14'0'' N
29°50'0'' E
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Bentoe
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1
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 The photomontage of a
specimen (below) from Sudan, Bentoe, South Sudan
Province, collected by Awatif Omer, 2006, Sudan 13; exactly matches the
alitrunk profile drawn by Weber, and has very similar characters and
colour.
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Collated illustration
(right) is of a cotype of Camponotus maculatus
ssp sudanicus (Weber, 1943c: 385, soldier
& worker; synonymy with C.
maculatus by Baroni Urbani 1972: 125) from Southern Sudan.
The original photographs, together with enlarged images, are from the
MCZ, Harvard University, website at - MCZ link. Weber's
(1943c) description of sudanicus is at . Major TL 9.1 mm (AL 3.3
mm) body dark
brown almost black; smaller than melanocnemis;
darker than aegyptiacus and without spots; nest
arboreal. This does not seem to be any different to nubis see above.
However, nubis
was found nesting in the black montane humus under stones and among
grass roots, whereas the single nest of sudanicus was in
the stub of a tree branch. Despite describing both, Weber makes no
reciprocal comparisons.
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