Tetramorium quadridentatum Stitz

Type location Cameroun (Tetramorium quadridentatum n. sp., Stitz 1910: 144, worker) collected at Mundame by L. Conradt - no type images on Antweb (April 2015)
junior synonym commodum (Tetramorium commodum n. sp., Santschi, 1924b: 215, worker & queen) from Zaïre, Ituri, La Motot, Madyu, collected by L. Burgeon - see below
worker and queen described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Stitz's (1910) description is at . Santschi's (1924b) description of commodum is at . Bolton's modern description (1980: 364) is at .

Nigeria specimens (as Tetramorium species K, Taylor, 1980a: 53). WORKER. - TL 4.42 mm, HL 1.01, HW 0.84, SL 0.75, PW 0.62
Sculpturation of faint rugoreticulum on the head, alitrunk and pedicel, rugae most pronounced on dorsal surface. Erect hairs yellow, moderately long and abundant. Propodeal spines short, acute and upturned; metapleural lobes similar in shape and only a little smaller. Petiole with a rounded anterodorsal face; the posterior face sloping inwards to the base; in dorsal view the node is ovoid with a narrow apex posteriorly. Postpetiole with a similar shape but shorter. There is a minute subpetiolar spine. Colour pale yellow-brown, gaster darker.

Probably arboreal, found occasionally on cocoa where it nests in debris filled crevices. My finding from was in Bolton's (1980) list, together with his own collection at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Idi Ayunre, and one from IITA (B.R. Critchley).

See also the commodum dark form below

The photomontage of a worker from Ghana is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0280921
Listed by Bolton (1980).

Reviewed by Bolton (1980, illustrated, alitrunk and pedicel) and described as widely distributed in West and Central Africa.

Bolton (1980) gave a considerable number of records from the Ghana cocoa zone - at Aburi and Koforidua (P. M. Room), Adeiso, Bunso, Enchi, Goaso, Kade, Maasi, Mt. Atewa (D. Leston); Oyoko and Mt. Atewa (C.A. Collingwood); CRIG (D. Louis); Mt. Atewa (B. Bolton). Collected in Ghana, once in his survey of insolated cocoa canopy by Room (1971). Also at Kade by Majer (1975, 1976b) using pkd knockdown, with 7-9 workers per sample. Single specimens were found in pkd samples from three of the plots surveyed by Bigger (1981a) in a single area of Amelonado cocoa at CRIG. Lastly, it was found in leaf litter in the semi-deciduous forest zone, one specimen only from Bunso cocoa (Belshaw & Bolton, 1994b).

Bolton (1980) also had a Cameroun finding, at Nko'emvon (D.A. Jackson) and commodum queen from Comba, Congo, by A. Weiss.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Tetramorium quadridentatum B Taylor det.	Ivory Coast Erena Dupont iv.2014	Taï National Park 5˚45'00" N 7˚07'00" W	03 orange form	1
Tetramorium quadridentatum B Taylor det.	Ivory Coast Erena Dupont iv.2014	Taï National Park 5˚45'00" N 7˚07'00" W	14 dark form	1
Tetramorium quadridentatum B Taylor det.	Cameroun A Fotso Kuate Tetramorium sp8	19.vii.2007 Awae II 03°54'30" N 11°25'58"	Pitfall in fallow very dark form	1
Tetramorium quadridentatum B Taylor det.	Central African Republic P Annoyer PO	30.xi.2010 Dzanga-Sangha 2°28'49.5"N 16°12'55.9"E	392 m; jour, à vue, camp de base lac 1	1

Tetramorium quadridentatum Stitz, colour variant

Nigeria specimens (as Tetramorium species near K, Taylor, 1980a: 53). WORKER. TL 4.51, HL 0.98, HW 0.87, SL 0.73, PW 0.65
Not drawn as morphologically almost identical to the pale variant. Colour dark yellow-brown, with rugae more distinct, probably due to the darker colour.

In Nigeria, this was more common at CRIN than the light variant. It was also arboreal found on cocoa nesting in a dead pod as well as in crevices, and tending aphids. Bolton (1980) thought the colour variation was a consistent feature on a nest basis.

The photomontage of the commodum type worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0906126
Listed by Bolton (1980).

The photomontage is of an orange-brown worker from Ivory Coast; Tai National Park; collector Erena Dupont, iv. 2014.

The photomontage is of a dar brown worker from Ivory Coast; Tai National Park; collector Erena Dupont, iv. 2014.

The photomontage is of a worker from Cameroun; Awae II; collector A Fotso Kuate (fk tetramorium sp 8).

The photomontage is of a worker from Central African Republic, Dzangha-Sanga NP; collector P Annoyer (CAR PO).