The Ants of Africa
Genus Dorylus Subgenus Typhlopone
Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus (Westwood) - base page

return to keySubgenus Typhlopone

With receipt of fresh specimens of workers and males, I have separated a number of distinct species from the long-held profusion of so-called subspecies, varietites and stirps. These are, with the specimens and/or illustrations available to me. * type images available.
Dorylus (Typhlopone) annoyeri new species - male from the Central African Republic - my photos
Dorylus badius - male from South Africa; possible workers but not images of such - my photos.
Dorylus eurous - workers from Sudan - my photos.
Dorylus fulvus - workers * from West Africa, possible male from the Central African Republic - my photos; dentifrons appears to a straight junior synonym and stramineus is unresolved.
Dorylus glabratus - male from the Central African Republic - my photos.
Dorylus juvenculus - queen, male* and workers from Israel - probably punicus * ? - my photos.
Dorylus obscurior - male and worker * from the Central African Republic - my photos of the male.
Dorylus oraniensis - workers from Tunisia - junior synonyms crosi * and saharensis *, plus my photos
Dorylus rhodesiae - workers * from Kenya - plus my photos.


Separation of available workers - Separation of available males


Base form as given in Bolton (1995: 179), with synonymic origins mainly from Emery (1895j: 724)

Historical notes, plus my comments on the listing and revisionary notes on type locations, non-fulvus species, are given below the listing.


Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus (Westwood)

{link to the Hymenoptera Name Server} Type location North Africa (Typhlopone fulva, Westwood, 1839: 218, illustrated, worker).
Subspecies
badius (Dorylus badius n. sp., Gerstaecker, 1859: 261, male; wrongly given by Bolton, 1995: 178 as worker) from Mozambique, with its synonym rhodesiae (Dorylus fulvus Westw., v. Rhodesiae n. st., Forel, 1913a: 111, worker; synonymy by Arnold, 1944: 2) from Zimbabwe;
crosi (Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus var. crosi nov. var., Santschi, 1926e: 230, worker & male) from Algeria, Mascara, Dr A Cros, viii.1925;
dentifrons (Dorylus fulvus Westw. subsp. dentifrons n. subsp., Wasmann, 1904b: 673, worker) from Zaïre, Sankuru, 1909; with its synonym stramineus (Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus Westw. v. stramineus n. v., Stitz, 1910: 128, workers) from Cameroun, Zenker;
eurous (Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus Westw. subsp. euroa n., Emery, 1915g: 5, illustrated, workers) from Eritrea (not Ethiopia);
glabratus ("Sp. 4. Dor. glabratus, Shuck.", Shuckard, 1840c: 317, male) from Gambia;
juvenculus ("Sp. 5. Dor. juvenculus, Shuck."Shuckard, 1840c: 318, male) from Morocco, with its junior synonym oraniensis, "336. Typhlopone oraniensis, Luc.", Lucas, 1849: 302, illustrated, worker, synonymy by Emery, 1888b: 350);
mordax (Dorylus fulvus v. mordax n. nov. Santschi, 1931d: 407, synonym replaced preoccupied name impressus; Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus Westw. v. impressus, Santschi,1928d: 56, worker) from Ivory Coast, Longa, Rabaud;
obscurior (Wheeler, 1925b: 1; workers; but use of Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus Westw., St. badius Gerst. v. obscurior n. var., Santschi, 1914d: 333) from Guinea, F. Silvestri;
punicus (Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus var. punicus nov. var., Santschi, 1926e: 231, illustrated, worker & male; Santschi, 1931d: 401, illustrated, queen) from Tunisia, Kairouan, Santschi, 1906;
ruficeps (Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus var. ruficeps nov. var., Santschi, 1926e: 232, male) from Lebanon, Jounich;
saharensis (Dorylus (Typhlopone) fulvus var. saharensis nov. var., Santschi, 1926e: 231, illustrated, worker & male) from "Sahara" = Algeria, Laghouat, 8.viii.1919, Surcouf.
Junior synonyms
clausii (Joseph, 1882: 47, worker, unavailable in HNS) from North Africa;
dahlbomii (Typhlopone Dahlbomii, Westwood, 1840b: 88, illustrated, worker) in sugar, no source location;
kirbii (Typhlopone Kirbii, Shuckard, 1840b: 265, worker, head only) location not given;
spinolae ("16. (5. Typhlopone) Spinolae, Shuck.", Shuckard, 1840c: 327, worker) location not given;
thwaitsii ("16. (4. Typhlopone) Thwaitsii, Shuck.", Shuckard, 1840c: 326, worker) location not given;
shuckardi from Guinea (Typhlopone ShuckardiWestwood, 1840b: 88, illustrated, worker; Ritsema, 1874: 182, male, is a paper on New Guinea!).
All forms known (see Bolton, 1995) .


Westwood's (1839) fragmented description is at {original description}.
Westwood's (1840b) descriptions of the type form and shuckardi are at {original description}.
Santschi (1928d) provided a fresh description of the type specimen, made by W.C. Crawley, of the Oxford (University) Museum; that together with Santschi's description of mordax (impressus) is at {original description}.
Shuckard's (1840b) description of kirbii, head only is at {original description}.
Shuckard's (1840c) description of the glabratus male is at {original description}.
Shuckard's (1840c) description of the juvenculus male is at {original description}.
Shuckard's (1840c) descriptions of thwaitsii and spinolae are at {original description}.
Lucas's (1849) description of oraniensis is at {original description}.
Gerstaecker's (1859) description of the badius male is at {original description}.
Wasmann's (1904b) description of dentifrons is at {original description}.
Stitz's (1910) description of stramineus is at {original description}.
Santschi's (1914b) description of badius - probably actually eurous - is at {original description}.
Santschi's (1914d) description of obscurior is at {original description}.
Emery (1915g) described eurous and provided illustrated comparative notes - these are at {original description}.
Wheeler (1922: 49) gave comparative notes on obscurior and provided illustrations - these are at {original description}.
Santschi's (1926e) revisionary note, with descriptions and illustrations of crosi, punicus, saharensis and ruficeps is at {original description}.


Note: Examination of Westwood's descriptions of the type, dahlbomii and shuckardi give no clue as to the type location. The specimens were found in sugar, the latter in "casks of sugar from the West Indies". Given that no Dorylus genus members have ever been found in the New World the latter has to be regarded as misleading. The Slave Trade routes between Britain and the West Indies, however, took the ships via West Africa ("The Slave Coast"), on the outward route. The return route appears to have been direct from the West Indies to Britain. Now (January 2013) the Antweb photographs of shuckardi have a label clearly marked "Mr Raddon's many speciemns in sugar from Bengal dead"

Note: Examination of Westwood's description and drawing, however, shows that shuckardi is very similar and possibly identical to Dorylus (Dorylus) spininodis and is not even a Typhlopone.

Note: Examination of Shuckard's description suggests kirbyi, with a bright chestnut head with a median longitudinal sulcus, was actually a small worker of an Anomma species. A candidate appears to be Dorylus (Anomma) molestus.


{Dorylus fulvus subspecies}Emery (1888b: 350) had: Dorylus juvenculus Shuck.  hab. Africa bor. et trop Syria, India. He listed the type plus - Typhlopone oraniensis Luc. and Dorylus badius Gerst., plus ? D. labiatus Shuck and ? D, hindustanus

Emery (1895j: 794) under the heading Subgenus Typhlopone Westw. had worker fulvus Westw.;
males juvenculus Shuck., var. badius Gerst., var. labiatus Shuck., ? var. glabratus Shuck.

Emery (1915g) partitioned the then known forms, with synonymies, as
D. fulvus fulvus, from Africa "settentr." (w & m), Syria; synonyms D. juvenculus Shuck (m), Typhlopone oraniensis Luc (w.)
D. fulvus eurous n. (w & m) eastern Africa
D. fulvus badius Gerst. (m) eastern-southern Africa
D. fulvus dentifrons Wasm. (m) tropical western Africa ? D. glabratus Shuck. (m)
D. fulvus rhodesianus For. (w) Rhodesia (Bulawayo).
He noted the worker of "euroa" from Eritrea, as having a head less elongated than the type, as "D. fulvus oraniensis Luc.", from the Barbary Coast and Syria; but shorter and less wide than the western tropical form, described by Wasmann as dentifrons. The Emery (1915g) images show waht appear to be four distinct species.

Emery, C. 1919. Notes critiques de myrmécologie. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belgique 59: 100-107 {original description} added to his previous synonymies with -
D. fulvus fulvus = the D. helvolus male of Latreille (1805: 261, Pl. 100, Fig 10).
D. fulvus dentifrons Wasm. junior synonym stramineus Stiz (1910: 128).
D. fulvus badius Gerst. = the st. badius of Santschi (1914: 63), of Arnold (1915: 125; Pl.4, Fig 31; var. euroa Emery (1915: 5); var. obscurior Santschi (1914: 333).


Santschi (1931d: 407 {original description}) gave a different listing:
species Dorylus fulvus (Westwood, 1840, Santschi, 1928, worker ? western Africa)
v. glabratus (Shuck. 1840) male (? = D. fulvus West., western Africa
v. mordax n. nov. = v. impressus Sants. 1928 nom. praeoc. Stiz 1910, worker, Ivory Coast)
stirps juvenculus (Shuck.) 1840, male; Santschi, 1926 = D. oraniensis Luc. 1846 worker, Algeria & Morocco
v. crosi Sants. 1926, worker & male, Algeria & Morocco
v. punicus Sants. 1926, worker, queen & male, Tunisia
v. saharensis Sants. 1926, worker, Sahara, Laghouat
v. ruficeps Sants. 1926, male, Lebanon
stirps badius Gerst. 1858; male, Sants. 1914a, worker & male, eastern Africa
v. eurous E. 1919, worker & male, Ethiopia
v. obscurior Sants. 1914b, worker, Guinea & Congo
stirps dentifrons Wasm. 1904, Sants. 1923, worker, Zaïre
v. stramineus (Stitz) 1910, Sants. 1923, worker, Cameroun
stirps rhodesiae Forel 1913, worker & male, southern Africa
stirps labiatus Shuck. 1840, worker & male [India]

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© 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 - Brian Taylor CBiol FRSB FRES
11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K.

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