The Ants of Africa
SUBFAMILY DOLICHODERINAE

Genus Tapinoma Förster
Dolichoderinae Introduction

Genus Tapinoma Förster (1850a: 43)

Type-species: Tapinoma collina (Förster, 1850a: 43; junior synonym of Tapinoma erraticum (Latreille, 1798), synonymy by Schenk, 1852: 67) by monotypy. Tapinoma senior synonym of Micromyrma Mayr (1863: 455); senior synonym of Neochystopsenella: [India] Brown (1988a: 137); senior synonym of Semonius, Tapinoptera and Zatapinoma [Asia], with genus review, Shattuck (1992c: 146).

Diagnostic Features - Eyes at or in front of the midlength of the head on the dorsal surface. Clypeus with or without the anterior margin emarginate. Mandibles with large apical two or three teeth, followed by a row of denticles. Palp formula, 6,4; and palpi long. Propodeum unarmed or rarely with a pair of blunt tubercles. Gaster in dorsal view with four visible tergites, the anal and associated orifices are ventral. Shattuck (1991: 108) noted that of the Dolichoderines only Tapinoma has elongate scapes in the male.

Förster's (1850a) genus definition is at {original description}. Mayr's (1861: 41) gave a genus description, this is at {original description}. Arnold (1915: 152) gave a note on the genus, with a key to South African species, this is at {original description}.

Forel (1910f: 21) defined Semonius as a new Dolichoderine genus, the definition is at {original description}. Arnold (1915: 157) gave a note on the genus, this is at {original description}.

Bolton (1995) lists a few species from Zaďre, eastern and southern Africa but has no species of which the holotypes came from West Africa. Wheeler (1922) noted how Tapinoma melanocephalum had become distributed by commerce throughout the tropics, and that the workers of the genus are timid and emit from their anal glands a strong odour like "rancid butter" ("Tapinoma-odor").


Provisional key to African species
Based mainly on original descriptions and almost certainly meriting further revision.

1 {short description of image}Head heart-shaped, relatively large TL 2.0-3.0 mm; anterior margin of clypeus with low-curved median notch, overall dull yellow with gaster blackish-brown to dark-brown .
. {short description of image} Congo Basin east to Kenya - luridum
-- Head with occiput not impressed; anterior margin of clypeus straight or weakly sinuous 2
2 {Tapinoma chiaromontei}Head with a smoothly ovoid outline; eyes set about the mid-point of the head or only slightly forward of the mid-point 3
-- {Tapinoma lugubre face}Head elongated with a relatively straight occiput; eyes set within anterior third of the head 6
. Head with a smoothly ovoid outline; eyes set about the mid-point of the head or only slightly forward of the mid-point .
3 {Tapinoma melanocephalum}TL no more than 2.0 mm; HW = HL; propodeal declivity weakly convex; head and alitrunk dark yellow brown to near black, gaster much lighter to yellow, extremities paler

Panafrican & global tramp species - melanocephalum
-- HL > HW 4
4 {Tapinoma longiceps}TL at least 2.5 mm; head and body unicolourous dark brown; anterior margin of clypeus weakly and smoothly convex Zaďre & Guinea - longiceps
-- Base colour light brown to yellow 4
5 {Tapinoma chiaromontei}TL 2.3 mm; colour brown, alitrunk and pedicel lighter, appendages dull (dirty) yellow .
. {Tapinoma chiaromontei} Somalia - chiaromontei
-- {Tapinoma connexum}TL 2.2 mm; uniform dull yellow, head and gaster brownish, silky; pubescence dense but very short; anterior margin of clypeus weakly convex but feebly scalloped; eyes set around the mid-point, angled ovoid; scape surpassing occiput by one-quarter its own length .
. {Tapinoma connexum} Kenya - connexum
. Head elongated (HL > HW) with a relatively straight occiput .
6 Propodeum in profile with a distinct sharp transition from dorsum to declivity 7
-- Propodeum in profile with the transition from dorsum to declivity no more than a rounded angle 10
7 Tapinoma mcgaviniPropodeum with declivity in profile flat. TL 1.4 mm; antennal scape not reaching the occiput; pubescence very short and scanty; yellow brown, smooth and shiny Tanzania -  mcgavini new species
-- Propodeum in profile with the transition from dorsum to declivity sharply defined, the declivity concave and the angle with a raised apex 8
8 {short description of image}TL ca 2.0 mm, HL 0.53, HW 0.42, CI 75, SL 0.5, SI 138, PW 0.30, eye length 0.15; funiculus segments mostly about as wide as they are long; finely & shallowly reticulate; pilosity a whitish appressed pubescence; colour grayish brown, appendages paler

.
-- {Tapinoma carininotum} West Africa to Sudan - carininotum
-- Colour dull brown-black - two apparently identical forms; if so Tapinoma acuminatum is the senior synonym
9
9 {Tapinoma lugubre}Propodeum with declivity distinctly bordered and concave; funiculus segments all longer than wideTL 1.6-1.9 mm; colour dull blackish yellow
.
. {Tapinoma lugubre}TL ca 1.5 mm, HL 0.48, HW 0.40, CI  85, SL 0.42 , SI 113, PW 0.27, eye length 0.12 Zimbabwe & Congo Basin - lugubre
-- Tapinoma acuminatumTL 1.5 mm; head a rounded rectangle, HL > HW; eyes "large"; antennal scape surpassing occiput by about one-fifth of its own length; shiny, pubescent; brown, alitrunk lighter, appendages smoky brown-yellow Kenya (Fundu I.) - acuminatum
. Propodeum in profile with the transition from dorsum to declivity no more than a rounded angle .
10 Antennal scape clearly surpassing the occipital border 11
-- Antennal scape not surpassing the occipital border 12
11 {short description of image} Antennal scape surpassing occipital border by about 1/4 of its own length; TL 2 mm (variety emeryi TL 2.7-3.0 mm); colour pale flavous yellow; whole body very finely spiculate giving it a matt appearance Pan-African (savannah?) - luteum
-- Tapinoma demissumAntennal scape surpassing the occiput by 1/3 its own length; TL 2 mm; eyes large set slightly forward of the mid-point of the head; legs very long; subopaque and densely punctate; colour ochreous; apex of gaster and funiculi brownish Zimbabwe - demissum
. Antennal scape not surpassing the occipital border .
12 {Tapinoma modestum (T2)}Antennal scape reaching the occipital border; TL 1.4-1.5 mm; colour yellow ochre; anterior margin of clypeus feebly notched; mandibles quite large with small denticles and three distinct apical teeth Zimbabwe west to Benin and Mali - modestum
-- Antennal scape reaching about 3/4 point of head; black or brownish 13
13 {Tapinoma schultzei}TL 1.8-3.0 mm; base colour near black but with dense, greyish, microscopic pubescence all over .
. {Tapinoma ? schultzei} Botswana & Tanzania - schultzei
-- TL maximum 1.8 mm 14
14 {Tapinoma subtile}TL 1.8 mm; mandibles with 4 distinct teeth, the apical tooth strongest, also 10-12 denticles; propodeal dorsum and declivity flat, sub-bordered; yellow sometimes with the gaster brownish Madagascar - subtile
-- TL > 1.8 mm 15
15 {Tapinoma arnoldi}TL 1.6-1.7 mm; colour light brown; mandibles narrow with only a few minute teeth; eyes quite small .
. Tapinoma arnoldi tectum Southern Africa form - arnoldi
-- TL maximum 1.8 mm; mandibles quite large 16
16 Base colour yellowish-brown 17
-- Base colour dark brown to near black 19
17 {Tapinoma Nigeria sp T1}TL ca 1.8 mm; paler yellow with longer scapes, SI 100; eyes set in slight depressions on the sides of the head; occiptum evenly rounded in full face view; propodeum with rounded transition from dorsum to declivity Nigeria & Cameroun - Tapinoma Nigeria sp T1 new species
-- TL maximum 1.5 mm 18
18 {short description of image}TL 1.2-1.4 mm; colour pale ochreous or pale reddish ochreous to pale yellowish sepia-brown; anterior margin of clypeus straight; eyes set no further back from the anterior margin of the head than about their own length Southern Africa - minimum
-- {short description of image}TL ca 1.5 mm; similar but with larger eyes and thicker scapes; the latter with quite dense pubescence Tanzania - mkomaziae new species (Tanzania 3/68/07)
19 {short description of image}TL 1.2-1.7 mm; pubescence very short and scanty; dark brown, smooth and shiny South Africa & Tanzania - danitschi
-- {Tapinoma debouti nsp Cameroon 28}TL 1.45-1.59 mm, HL 0.47, HW 0.40, CI = 112, SL 0.31, SI = 77, PW 0.26
Eyes set well forward of the midline of the sides of the head; scapes very short (under two-thirds of HL); funiculus apical segment swollen, segments 9-10 slightly larger than 2-8; in dorsal view alitrunk with near right angled anterior lateral shoulders; promesonotal suture arched forward; propodeum with rounded raised transition from dorsum to declivity, declivity flat; erect setae only on the clypeus; head, alitrunk and gaster dull due to dense imbrication; dense fine flat pubescence; dark brown, except antenna, tarsi and tibiae which are colourless.
West Africa - debouti new species
19 Tapinoma T2TL 1.59 mm, HL 0.47, HW 0.40, SL 0.31, PW 0.26
Colour all over brown, shiny. Antennal scapes noticeably short relative to the head length. Erect hairs only on the clypeus. Dense fine pubescence on all surfaces except the sides of the head, where it is sparse. Dorsum of alitrunk nearly smoothly convex in profile with a slight depression at the metanotal suture.
Nigeria & Cameroun - n sp. CRIN T2

Undetermined and assignable forms from West Africa & the Congo Basin

Tapinoma species (indet.)

Two workers were collected from leaf litter in primary forest at Old Tafo in Ghana, by Belshaw & Bolton (1994b).


Tapinoma species A

Collected in Ghana by Bigger (1981a) at CRIG, 7 workers by pkd from Amelonado cocoa canopy and 2 from the ground under the cocoa.


Tapinoma species A3

From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on cocoa mistletoe (Room, 1971).


Tapinoma species A54

From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on cocoa mistletoe, and on herbs under cocoa (Room, 1971).


Tapinoma species A94

From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on cocoa mistletoe (Room, 1971).


Tapinoma species A273

From Ghana at the Mampong Cemetery Farm on herbs under cocoa (Room, 1971).


Tapinoma species 3

From Ghana on cocoa mistletoe (Room, 1975).


Tapinoma species 40

From Ghana on cocoa mistletoe (Room, 1975).


Tapinoma species 54

From Ghana on cocoa mistletoe (Room, 1975).


Tapinoma species 95

In a paper on the fauna of cocoa mistletoe in Ghana, Room (1972a) described it as a mimic of Crematogaster clariventris, with a similar orange gaster.


Tapinoma species 4

Collected in one cocoa plot at Nko'emvon, Cameroun, by Jackson (1984), in pitfall traps and ground searches, some 100-200 individuals on each collection date.

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© 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 - Brian Taylor CBiol FSB FRES
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