The Ants of Africa Genus Camponotus subgenus Tanaemyrmex
Genus Camponotus

Subgenus Tanaemyrmex Ashmead (1905b: 384) - member species regarded as in Myrmoturba by Wheeler (1922); synonymized by Emery (1925b: 75).

Ashmead wrote only "Tribe III. - Camponotini. Genera: ... Tanaemyrmex, Ashm. n. g. (type Formica longipes, Gerst.)" [see Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) etiolipes (Gerstäcker)] also "Dinomyrmex, Ashm., n. g. (type Formica gigas, Latr.) [Latreille, 1802c: 105, also F Smith, 1858b: 14, from India, Bingham, 1903: 369; see www.antweb.org images]. Myrmoturba Forel (1912i) and Dinomyrmex Ashmead (1905b). Forel (192i) is at

Subgenus definition -- clypeus carinate, with pronounced anterior median lobe (usually rectangular). Head of major usually much wider posteriorly, occiput usually without a border; minor head with parallel sides, sometimes narrowed posteriorly; mandibles usually with 6-7 teeth; thorax dorsum arcuate, rarely with propodeum slightly depressed and saddle-shaped. Usually nesting in ground or under stones (truly global with very many species).

Emery (1925b: 63) separated subgenus Dinomyrmex as having the mandibles with some reduced (géminée) teeth; clypeus carinate, extended forward as a strong lobe, impressed medianly and each side with a raised angle in the form of a tooth; giant Malay species.  Under Tanaemyrmex (as follows) he had "Camponotus subg. Dinomyrmex (part) [all except gigas, the species in Forel, 1912: 91, and Forel, 1914a: 259, 268]. This was contrary to the separation in Wheeler (1922: 239 ff) where pompeius, langi, caesar, massinissa and wellmani were in Dinomyrmex; plus (962 ff) aequatorialis, brevicollis, caffer, immigrans, longipes, sexpunctatus, and varus (with their then subspecies, etc.).

Emery (1925b: 76) recognised three groups of workers:-
alpha - with sides of head parallel and occipital border usually rounded, vertex not impressed
beta - with sides convergent behind; vertex clearly depressed and the eyes are well removed from the occipital border
gamma - even more accentuated than beta, the posterior of the head being cone-shaped with the occipital border reduced to a narrow articulation, sometimes extended into a neck, particuarly in forms where the cone-shape is not so accentuated
Emery added that intermediates also could be found.

Emery listed the subgenus members the species as follow (African members only) -
maculatus-gouldi-group - aequatorialis, brevicollis, caffer, crawleyi, donisthorpei, guttatus, hova ssps, immigrans, langi, longipes, maculatus with many ssps, masimissa, pompeius, sexpunctatus, varus and wellmani
irritans-thraso-group - acvapimensis, arnoldinus, bianconii, baynei, cleobulus, kersteni, maguassa, thales and thraso ssps
compressus-sylvaticus-group - compressus ssps probativa & incommoda, congolensis, fornasinii, knysnae, solon (with ssp brutus and varieties chiton, jugurtha and lycurgus) and somalinus
ungrouped - rubripes, werthi

Santschi (1926a) gave a consideration of the then subgenera - Tanaemyrmex Ashmead (1905b), Myrmoturba Forel (1912i) and Dinomyrmex Ashmead (1905b). This is at . The peculiarity of the minor forms where the head is dramatically narrowed behind the occiput, apparently used for separating subgenus Dinomyrmex, was left in confusion. Apart from the strange apparently monomorphic Camponotus (Myrmoxygenys) caesar, my observation is that such minors appear to be restricted to what I have termed the pompeius-group. Even so, as will be seen under Camponotus maculatus, the proliferation of subspecies and varieties leaves chaos. Santschi also pointed out that he regarded Camponotus hova, primarily from Madagascar but with some purported forms from South Africa, as a mimetic of maculatus.

Note I have reconised a new species-complex, guttatus-complex, within the maculatus-group; majors with heads longer than wide, approximately rectangular in full face view with weakly arcuate sides and an only shallowly impressed occipitum. Members presently abjectus (Santschi, 1937d: 242); guttatus Emery (1899e: 498); kersteni (Gerstäcker, 1871: 355); minisculus (Viehmeyer, 1914c); and proletaria Baroni Urbani (1971b: 362, solely as a replacement name for Camponotus (Myrmoturba) maculatus F. st. miserabilis n.st. Santschi (1914d: 379, soldier & worker); itself according to Baroni Urbani, 1972: 123). Baroni Urbani's multiple synonymization (1972: 123 ff) of the many so-called varieties of maculatus was presented with very little detail of his actual study of specimens, although he noted he had seen the specimens in Basel and Parigi, as well as material in London.

Provisional key to Major morph of African species - based primarily on historical descriptions, caution is urged and the main descriptions should be perused to verify any diagnosis; illustrations of perceived minors also are given where possible.

Although, I am leaving it in this catalogue as a substantive species, C. rubripes Latreille seems to be too enigmatic to be a recognisable species. Forel (1886f) summarised the characters common to all subspecies, varieties and races of rubripes and that is on - , giving more a set of characters for the subgenus than anything else.

A1	Majors with alitrunk profile convex in a smooth elongated curve, propodeal declivity (when obvious from angle with dorsum) very short (at least two species-complexes), from above with a narrow posterior at transition to declivity Minors with relatively short scapes and legs cf pompeius-group abjectus, aegyptiacus, aequatorialis, arnoldinus (?), baynei, cognatocompressus, congolensis, desantii, guttatus, kersteni, maculatus, negus, (rubripes), sexpunctatus (?), traegaordhi Seemingly equivalent to Ashmead's Tanaemyrmex and Forel's Myrmoturba	maculatus-group - 1
--	Alitrunk profile with distinct angle (even if obtuse) between dorsum and declivity of propodeum	A2
A2	Majors with clypeus with distinct median carina, a sharp anterior margin with right angles laterally; large TL 15 mm plus; alitrunk profile convex with angular propodeum, from above most with a sub-rectangular posterior at transition to declivity; petiole scale quite thick; trimorphic (?) minors with distinct posteriorly narrowed heads; dark red-brown to near black Minors with long scapes and legs; lighter brown-orange to yellow-red brevicollis, caffer, coniceps, crawleyi, donisthorpei, etiolipes, fornasinii (?), heros, knysnae, langi, natalensis, oasium, pompeius, posticus, probativus, wellmani, varus Seemingly equivalent to Ashmead's Dinomyrmex	pompeius-group - 12
--	Minors with square to oval heads in full face view	A3
A3	Large, TL ca 15 mm; Minor head near rectangular brutus, buttikeri, empedocles (?), importunus, solon, somalinus Seemingly equivalent to Ashmead's Dinomyrmex	brutus-group - 22
--	Small (for genus) TL Major < 10 mm; head with CI ca 100, occiput near straight, with gently rounded corners, clypeus lacking a well-defined anterior lobe; alitrunk profile interrupted shallowly convex but propodeum markedly angular, from above with a narrow posterior at transition to declivity; mostly dark near black Minor heads sub-ovoid to square acvapimensis, agonius, basuto, cleobulus, dicksoni, errabundus, immigrans, ligeus, maguassa, roubaudi, sacchii, thales, werthi	acvapimensis-group - 26
¤	Queen only known (possibly a pompeius-group member)	Zaïre - massinissa
¤	Not included in the main key because the status of the species (type location Madagascar) and its possible subspecies, including those reported from South Africa, is far from clear	Madagascar and dubiously Southern Africa - hova
¤	In Paramyrmamblys; TL 9.0 mm	South Africa - bianconii
¤	Media worker TL 8.5-9 mm & 7-8 mm, mostly dark brown	.
.	Minor	Tanzania - pulvinatus
¤	Major only described, TL ca 15-20 mm, status uncertain as description inadequate	.
¤	Minor from shared location in Liberia	Sierra Leone & ? Liberia - rubripes
¤	Queen ?	.
.	Minor	Mozambique - sexpunctatus
--	Alitrunk profile convex in a smooth elongated curve; at least dimorphic (?) minor/minima with head narrowed posteriorly but not dramatically so and without any "neck" - maculatus-group	--
1	Majors with heads longer than wide, approximately rectangular in full face view with weakly arcuate sides and an only shallowly impressed occipitum; maximum TL ca 10 mm; presently abjectus, guttatus, kersteni, minisculus and proletaria	2
--	Majors with head in full face view approximately triangular, with quite strongly convex sides and deeply impressed occiptum - maculatus-complex	4
-	guttatus-complex	-
2	TL 5-6 mm; body and gaster dark; gaster tergite margins with narrow pale bands; legs pale brown	East Africa (? Guinea) - kersteni
--	TL 8-9 mm	3
3	TL 8.5 mm; ground colour pale yellow or yellow ochre, with rust or red brown areas - distal mandibles, part of scapes, posterior angles of head, bands at each suture of gaster; and dark brown areas - mass of mandibles, rest of head, dorsal areas of thorax and gaster, plus on sides of gaster; erect hairs rust but sparse except on gaster	.
.	Major	.
.	Minor	Angola; Guinea & Senegal - abjectus
--	TL Major 8 mm; major head HL 2.4 mm HW 2.0 mm; head distinctively shaped with sides only feebly arcuate; clypeus carinate with the anterior margin feebly arcuate and the corner right-angled; primarily yellow rust brown, head darker; from the description appears similar to abjectus but has the front of the face densely stippled (pointillé) and matt, the posterior of the face and alitrunk being finely reticulate-striate but weakly shiny; the scape is slender and surpasses the occiput	.
.	Minor 5.25-4 mm	West Africa - guttatus
--	TL 9.0 mm; head black or brownish, dorsal alitrunk and gaster reddish-brown; minor TL 6.5 mm, head elongated	.
.		Guinea - proletaria
-	maculatus-complex	-
4	With at least a few gular hairs on underside of head; Major TL ca 15 mm; HW 4.3 HL 3.9 mm; mostly dark brown, alitrunk yellow (particularly in minors), funiculus, petiole, rust patches on gaster	.
.	Minor	Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt - fellah
--	Without any gular hairs on underside of head	5
5	TL < 11 mm	6
--	TL > 11 mm	8
6	Head and body with substantial areas brown or lighter	7
--	Head and whole body unicolorous black or nearly so	7a
7	TL Major 10.5 mm, Minor 7.5-8 mm; head less convex-sided and less narrowed in front, occiput less impressed; scape surpasses occiput by about one-third its own length; pilosity rusty red, sparse on alitrunk and gaster, slightly more abundant on anterior of head; head black, alitrunk and gaster brown, tibiae dark brown, mandibles & scapes blackish, femora & tarsi pale brown, trochanters, coxae, petiole and funiculus ochreous; margins of gaster segments translucent ohcreous but lateral pale spots on first two segments very dark and diffuse	.
.		.
.	Minor (muger)	South Africa - traegaordhi
--	TL 8.9-11 mm; mandibles with 6-7 teeth, subopaque, very finely reticulate, with spaced puncturations; scapes strongly curved, quite cylindrical, surpassing the occiput by about twice their width; propodeal declivity a little shorter than the dorsum; tibia subcylindrical, with two or three denticles apically and sides feebly channeled; erect pilosity rust, quite long but sparse on the body, none on the tibiae and tarsi, pubescence very fine, very short and very spaced out all over; shiny, head, appendages and gaster brown black; occipital angles, posterior clypeus and mandible apices, plus part of the thorax of red brown; basal part of gaster, funiculi, base and apex of scapes, lower legs and part of alitrunk yellow rust, narrow transverse band on first gastral segment and base of mandibles brown.	Congo Basin (?Guinea) - aequatorialis.
.	Speculatively, I have separated this as the major of the kohli variety	.
.	Speculatively, I have separated this as the minor of the kohli variety	aequatorialis kohli
7a	TL 9.5 mm; head narrower anteriorly than maculatus; petiole scale higher than long, twice as wide as high, subacuminate above, anterior face near flat; dull black, alitrunk very dark brownish-black, legs dark brown, apex of gastral segments translucent testaceous	.
.	It seems negus as presently understood encompasses several forms of which this shiny Major may be one	Ethiopia south to South Africa - negus
--	Major TL ca 12.5 mm; propodeum somewhat angular, dorsum one-third longer than declivity; black or blackish-brown, appendages reddish ochreous (minor with alitrunk yellowish-brown)
.	Minor	South Africa - arnoldinus
--	TL 10 mm; dorsum of head and alitrunk opaque, remainder shiny; black, appendages ferruginous, gaster with pale posterior margins	.
.		.
.		Cape Verde Is & Senegal - occasus
-	TL > 11 mm	-
8	Hind tibiae without setae on the lower margin (or no more than one or two)	9
--	Hind tibiae with at least five setae on the lower margin	10
9	TL 15 mm	Central African Republic - new species - carensis
--	TL > 12 mm	9B
9B	Major TL > 11 mm; poly- or trimorphic, Major only moderately sized; head & thorax uniformly dark brown, gaster with distinctive pattern of yellow-brown patches, legs almost entirely yellow. Minors more predominantly yellow brown; tibiae without setae	.
.		Sahel zone - aegyptiacus
--	Major TL 10.8 mm; pilosity brownish-yellow; head and most of body blackish-brown; petiole, coxae and femora ochreous; tibiae without setae	.
.		South Africa - baynei
--	Major TL > 11 mm; poly- or trimorphic, Major only moderately sized; head & thorax uniformly dark brown, gaster entirely black. Minors similarly coloured	South Africa - cognatus
-	Hind tibiae with at least five setae on the lower margin	-
10	Major TL ca 13 mm; head a little longer than wide, scape not reaching occipital margin; clypeus with median carina; head & alitrunk densely and finely reticulopunctate; petiole scale relatively thick, intermediate between scale and cuneiform (right); overall black with a silky appearance and a bluish tinge	.
.	Minor	West Africa & Congo Basin - congolensis
--	Major TL 14 mm plus	11
11	Very variable in colour and size, enormously plastic species; type form as in photomontage - the variability is analysed separately from the species page; tibiae with setae on lower border	.
.	Minor	Pan-African, tramp - maculatus
--	Major TL 13 mm plus (estimate); HL 4.8 HW 3.5; head and thorax dorsum, up to the upper part of the propodeal declivity, and dorsum of first and second gastral segments black; funiculus, lower sides of thorax red or brown rust; everything else yellow; tibiae with setae	.
.		.
.	Minor TL ca 11.0 mm, SL 2.8, posterior tibia 3.0; alitrunk elongated	CAR & Benin - desantii
--	Probably extra-limital, Major TL ca 15 mm, maculatus-group but larger and strongly sculptured; head and alitrunk red-brown, gaster near black	.
.	Minor	North Africa inc Egypt - cognatocompressus
--	Major TL 13 mm; tarsi flattened but not channeled; narrower more curved mandibles and the rouned corners to the anterior margin of the clypeus (sharp right angles in the type maculatus); black, mandibles ferruginous; funiculi, coxae and base of femur reddish-fulvous.	.
.		.
.	Minor TL ca 8-9 mm, SL 3.0, posterior tibia 3.0; head shape is much shorter behind the eyes	Uganda & Sudan - sarmentus
-	Alitrunk profile with distinct angle (even if obtuse) between dorsum and declivity of propodeum	-
12	Large TL 15 mm plus; petiole scale quite thick, usually cuneiform; minors with distinct posteriorly narrowed heads; Majors dark red-brown to near black; Minors lighter brown-orange to yellow-red	pompeius-group - 13
-	miscellaneous species	-
12a	Major TL 16 mm; Minor TL ca 7 mm; dorsum of petiole steeply rounded and with a longitudinal weak impression (at least in minors); head large, domed and short; appendages relatively short and slender; almost entirely matt; major uniform reddish-brown, with the head and gaster often blackish. Minors with prismatic tibiae which have a line of short setae	Sahel zone into western Asia - oasium
--	Minor only in original description; TL 15 mm (size similar to etiolipes)	.
.		.
.	Major (new finding) TL ca 18 mm, HW 5 HL 5.3	Congo Basin (north?) - brevicollis
.	Minor only; TL 8.5-9 mm, SL 3.1 mm; castaneous brown, with alitrunk and appendages lighter; moderately dense erect hairs on alitrunk dorsum	Cameroun & Congo - donisthorpei
--	Major; TL ca 9.5 mm, SL 2.5; minor described as dull castaneous brown, with alitrunk and appendages lighter; lacking erect hairs on the dorsal alitrunk	.
.	Minor only; TL 8.5-9 mm, SL 3.1 mm; castaneous brown, with alitrunk and appendages lighter	Cameroun & Congo - not donisthorpei
--	Minor only known, TL 11 to 12.5 mm; entirely dark brown; alitrunk dorsum almost entirely lacking erect hairs	Angola - varus
-	pompeius-group	-
13	Head wider than long	13a
--	Head not wider than long	14
13a	Major TL ca 18 mm; head noticeably wider than long HW 6.5 HL 5.5; petiole scale convex on both sides; body with long silky dark red hairs all over; basically brownish-black with slight brown tint, appendages lighter; minor clypeus with distinctive anteriorly raised median carina	.
.	Minor TL 12-13 mm, HL 3.0 SL 5; frontal area transverse, rhomboid; frontal carinae close together, sinuous and slightly divergent; head regularly narrowing from the anterior border to the occiput, sides regularly but only mildly convex; eyes large and centered at mid-length of the head; alitrunk elongated and slender, mildly convex; propodeum with declivity shorter than dorsum; petiole scale cuneiform, convex on both faces, near truncated at the summit, slightly higher than long; with long silky, sharp, red brown hairs spaced across whole body, rising out of punctules; pubescence sparse, fine, reddish, more abundant on the rear of the head; tibiae and scapes with oblique short but abundant rusty pilosity.	Southern Africa & Congo Basin (Guinea?) - wellmani
¤	Minor only described, TL 8.5 mm; Major (new specimens) TL > 15 mm	Cameroun - crawleyi
¤	Minor TL 11 mm; head conical narrowing behind the eyes (as wellmani, but much shorter); clypeus with strong median carina; eyes somewhat bigger and more convex; matt and densely transversely striate; whole body with long quite abundant rust pilosity; head & scapes dark red-brown; rest progressively lighter rearwards, gaster with lateral yellow border.	Congo - coniceps
14	Scapes surpassing occiput by at least one-quarter of own length or more	15
--	Scape not reaching or only just surpassing occiput	19
15	Scapes surpass occiput by one-quarter of own length; Major TL 15.5-16.3 mm; head triangular posteriorly widest and twice width at anterior margin; eyes set about mid-point of head; tibiae compressed; mandibles shiny but coarsely punctured; erect hairs fulvous sparse on head and alitrunk quite abundant on gaster; head and alitrunk nitidulous gaster shiny; black but funiculus, lower lateral alitrunk, petiole and basal third of femora translucent testaceous	.
.		South Africa - knysnae
--	Scapes surpassing occiput by at least one third of own length	16
16	Major TL 12.5-14 mm; overall shape narrow and elongated; head dark brown, body brown, petiole and legs yellow-brown	.
.	Minor	Zaïre (Madagascar?) - langi
--	TL > 14 mm	17
17	Major TL 16 mm, HL 4.7 HW 3.6; (cf etiolipes, sic longipes but more slender and slimmer) eyes quite large set at two-thirds point of head; petiole higher than long; matt, head finely and densely reticulo-punctate, gaster transversely shagreened; body with long golden red erect hairs, those on gaster directed posteriorly; all over very fine rust short pubescence; brownish-black, gaster segments narrowly bordered yellow, funiculus, condylar bulbs, ends of scapes, trochanters, lower femora and petiole, hind tarsi and apex of gaster rust	Tanzania - heros
--	Eyes set at or just behind mid-point of face	18
18	Major TL 14-17 mm; head one-eighth longer than wide; eyes set just behind mid-point; alitrunk profile with mesonotum more convex and raised above level of hind margin of pronotum; entirely dull, relatively coarsely sculptured; whole body, legs and antennae with fairly long abundant reddish yellow pubescence; erect hairs long, fulvous and fairly plentiful, absent from genae; black, apical borders of gaster narrowly testaceous and translucent, funiculus and tarsi dark brown	South Africa - natalensis
--	Major TL 16-18 mm, HL = HW; sides of head not very convex; petiole with very convex anterior and flat posterior; tibiae strongly compressed, dorsal, inner and outer faces canaliculate; pilosity brownish-red, absent from legs, very sparse on head; black, petiole dark yellowish brown, appendages dull reddish-ochreous, gaster with a small dull ochreous spot on each side of three basal segments	.
.	Major	Mozambique - probativus
-	Major scape not reaching or hardly surpassing occiput	-
19	TL ca 15 mm	20
--	TL > 15 mm	21
20	TL 15 mm; dark brown	.
.	minor	West Africa & Congo Basin - pompeius
--	TL 15 mm, head near square, HW 4.2 HL 4.3; cf cognatus head wider less narrowed in front, without erect hairs on genae; long fine decumbent pubescence all over but sparse; tibiae with numerous ventral setae	Mozambique - fornasinii
21	TL 16 mm; head, alitrunk and petiole fuscous, gaster with basal segments with a small spot laterally, appendages dark rust; dull, scantily pilose and scarcely pubescent	.
.		South Africa - caffer
--	TL major ca 16-17 mm?, minor 15.5-16 mm; major morphology like maculatus rel to minor; head much longer than maculatus deeply emarginate posteriorly; dull, finely shagreened and punctured, clypeus with numerous hairs pits; major almost totally coal-black, appendages piceous to reddish-brown	.
--		Southern Africa tropical forests - etiolipes
--	Very large, Major TL > 16 mm; Minor ca 10.5; erect pilosity very long, sparse on alitrunk; colour predominantly yellow-brown	.
.	minor	eastern Zaïre & Kenya - posticus
--	Minor TL ca 13.0-14.5 mm; with long legs and antennae; fairly uniform reddish-brown, gaster variably darker; petiole scale in profile broadly triangular, in front view with a rounded apex	Angola, Cameroun,. Congo - Camponotus (Myrmoxygenys) caesar
--	Minor; TL 14.5-15.5 mm; sharply contrasting dark head, often with dark legs; petiole scale in profile narrowly triangular, in front view with a sharp apex	Cameroun - Camponotus (Myrmoxygenys) caesar imperator
-	Minors with square to ovoid faces	-
22	Large, TL > 12 mm; Minor head near rectangular - brutus, buttikeri, empedocles (?), importunus, solon	brutus-group - 23
--	Smaller, TL Major < 10 mm; Minor heads sub-ovoid to square; alitrunk profile interrupted shallowly convex but propodeum markedly angular; mostly dark near black	acvapimensis-group - 26
23	TL < 14 mm	24
--	TL > 14 mm	25
24	TL 10.0-13.6 mm; cf thales but head with more prominent strongly angular occipital lobes, also more distinctly punctured in front of eyes and below frontal carinae; scapes just failing to reach occiptum; all black except apical margins of gaster testaceous, legs and scapes dark brown	.
.	Minor	Southern Africa - empedocles
--	Major TL 13 mm (cf natalensis but smaller); head highly domed in anterior view; scapes reach occiput; very small petiole scale; head and alitrunk dull due to microscopic reticulation, mandibles shiny; black appendages rust or lighter	.
.		South Africa - buttikeri
25	Major TL 18 mm; HW significantly less than HL; colour generally like solon but larger and with shiny smooth mandibles; legs with abundant semi-decumbent short hairs	.
.	Media/minor, TL ca 14 mm	West Africa & Congo Basin - lycurgus
--	Major HW near equal to HL	25a
25a	Major TL > 15 mm; head distinctly wider than long; declivity of propodeum obtusely angled, petiole with blunt dorsal border; occiput with numerous piliferous points, mandibles smooth; dark red-brown, extremities orange	.
.	media/minor	Western Africa (Angola to Sierra Leone) - brutus
--	Major TL 15 mm; head just longer than wide, petiole with sharp dorsal border; mandibles striated, occiput smooth; dark brown, head near black	.
.	Media/minor	Angola and Congo Basin - solon
--NEW	Major TL 13.5 mm; head just longer than wide, petiole with sharp dorsal border; mandibles striated, occiput very finely spiculate giving dull appearance; dark brown, head near black	.
.	Media/minor	West Africa - chilon
--	TL 14-16 mm; cf caffer but more compressed with thinner scale and erect hairs on genae; petiole scale thin; minor head only moderately narrowed behind; colour like caffer or pale cognatus but with diffuse brownish yellow lateral spots on basal three segments of gaster, head dull sometimes more rusty-red	.
.	Minor	Southern Africa - importunus
--	TL 12-15 mm; Major head large and occiput strongly scalloped; clypeus with a strong carina and large rectangular anterior lobe; mandibles very finely striated; entirely black, appendages variably reddish. Minor - head narrower, oval and occiput hardly scalloped	.
.		Somalia to Congo Basin - somalinus
-	Petiole scale squamiform, thickness variable but without highly convex anterior face - smaller TL soldier < 10 mm; minor heads sub-ovoid to square; mostly dark near black - acvapimensis-group	-
26	Petiole scale thick with rounded apex in profile	27
--	Petiole scale squamiform tapering to sharp apex	28
27	Major TL 7.4 mm; (cf werthi) scapes not reaching occiput, occipital margin convex; pronotum nearly three times as wide as long; propodeal dorsum very narrow; petiole scale thick but 2.5 x higher than thick; whitish pubescence very short, sparse and decumbent, erect hairs long and whitish but very few; black, appendages mainly ferruginous	South Africa - errabundus
--	TL 6.5-8.2 mm; scapes surpass occiput by length of first funiculus segment; hind margin of head straight; pronotum twice as wide as long; propodeum dorsum one-third longer than wide; pubescence very short and inconspicuous, erect hairs sparse long fairly pointed and not thick; shining black, tarsi dark brown	.
.		South Africa - werthi
28	TL > 10 mm	29
--	TL maximum 10 mm	30
29	TL 11 mm; sculpturation of dense reticulo-puncturation; with long grey-white erect pilosity; long pubescence on the gaster; base colour dull brown-red, legs and gaster reddish-yellow	.
.	Minor	Cameroun - immigrans
--	TL 9-11 mm, HL about the same as HW; head trapezoidal not much narrower anteriorly, middle half of sides straight, occiput moderately impressed; scapes just surpassing occiput; alitrunk short and robust, propodeum dorsum very narrow; shiny, erect hairs yellowish, none on sides of head; head black, most of rest reddish brown, anterior of gaster paler	.
.	minor	South Africa - thales
30	TL 9-10 mm; very dark dull appearance with dense coarse, fulvous red pilosity	.
.		Congo Basin - maguassa
--	TL < 10 mm	31
31	TL 9-10 mm	32
--	TL < 9 mm	33
32	TL 9.0 mm; scapes surpass occiput by about four times own breadth; propodeum longer than meso- and metanotum together, dorsum longer than abrupt declivity; erect hairs scanty, yellow; black, shiny, appendages dark brown to red (cf natalensis but smaller and more compact, shinier)	.
.		Ethiopia - ligeus
--	TL 9.5 mm, HW 3.5 HL 3.3 SL 2.4; cf natalensis ssp corvus, clypeus obtusely carinate, with truncate anterior lobe; occiput more deeply impressed, scape reaches to two-thirds of distance from eye to occiput; piceous with appendages ferruginous	Somalia - sacchii
33	TL ca 8.5 mm; clypeus without or only a short, posterior, median carina; quite short and thickset; fine yellowish pilosity; all over dull pitch	.
.		Sub-Saharan forest in sunlit ground - acvapimensis
--	TL max 8.0 mm	34
34	TL ca 8.0 mm	35
--	TL < 8.0 mm	36
35	TL 8.0 mm; scapes surpass occiput; propodeum angular and high, narrow in dorsal view; brownish-black, apex of gaster testaceous, anterior of head and appendages rust to brown-red (related to cleobulus) minor worker	Lesotho - basuto
--	TL 8.0 mm, HL 2.2 HW 2.1; eyes small; sculpture as thales but more puncturations between frontal carinae and larger on mandibles; black, gaster with posterior margins yellowish; mandibles reddish, appendages brown	South Africa - cleobulus
36	TL 4-7 mm, scapes short; brown-black, fairly shiny; profile of propodeum a smooth curve	.
.		Congo Basin (?Guinea) - agonius
--	Profile of propodeum distinctly angular	37
37	TL 6-6.5 mm; less shiny; scapes short; dorsum of propodeum one-third shorter than declivity, slightly lowered and curve into declivity obtuse; brown-black but head darker	.
.
.		Congo Basin - roubaudi
--	TL 7.5 mm; (cf cleobolus) scapes reach occiput; shiny, with just visible microscopic reticulation, plus few large hair-pits; a few yellowish hairs on head, six on pronotum, four on middle of propodeum, two on each side of petiole; brownish-black, appendages reddish-brown, coxae and base of femur yellowish white	.
.	Minor worker	South Africa - dicksoni
--	TL 6-8.5 mm; minor with near square head; quite dark brown	.
.		Tanzania - minusculus - new status

Genus page

© 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 - Brian Taylor CBiol FRSB FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K.

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