Camponotus (Orthonotomyrmex) sericeus (Fabricius)

Type location Senegal (Formica sericea, in Fabricius, 1798: 279, worker; Mayr, 1866b: 886, queen; Forel, 1886f: 192, male; Forel, 1891b: 56, all forms) collected by Bosc; subspecies euchrous (Santschi, 1926b: 267, queen) from French Sudan [western Sahel; not modern Sudan, as given by Bolton, 1995]; and sulgeri (Santschi, 1913c: 313, worker) from Congo, collected at Brazzaville, by A. Weiss;
junior synonyms aurulenta (Latreille, 1802c: 114, illustrated, queen) from Senegal; all forms known .

Fabricius' (1798) description is at . Latreille's (1802c) description of the queen, as aurulenta, is at . Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau (1835: 213) gave a description, this is at . Mayr (1862: 675) gave a description of the Egypt and eastern form, this is at . Mayr's (1866b: 886) description of the queen is at . Forel (1891b: 56) provided a description and notes which seem to blanket both the sericeus ss and obtusus forms, this is at . Arnold (1924: 709-710) provided a description and notes, this is at .

With fresh specimens, I have removed the following Santschi (1926b) forms to Camponotus obtusus - v obtusus Sm. - head red; alitrunk variable black or red; legs brown; pubescence somewhat golden; petiole, scale less thick at summit [from Egypt, Port Said by Karavaiev; from Obok, by Maindron, 1893; and from Jansuame, Sahara, Iferouman Region, by Mission Fourreau-Lamy, 1900)
and, Camponotus euchrous v euchrous n. var. - head, alitrunk and appendages red often quite bright; more slender; petiole scale higher; gaster black; pubescence greyish yellow; from "French Sudan".

Santschi (1913c) gave a very brief note on sulgeri as smaller than the type and with sparser pubescence, also a somewhat longer and more concave propodeum.
Santschi (1926b) had - the type is entirely black, the pelt of pubescence is greyish yellow; the pelt is missing in var. sulgeri; from Ivory Coast at Dimbroko by Lemoult, Dahomey, at Kouande by Desanti (Benin) and Casmance by Claveau.

I have removed the following Santschi (1926b) forms to Camponotus obtusus - v obtusus Sm. - head red; alitrunk variable black or red; legs brown; pubescence somewhat golden; petiole, scale less thick at summit [from Egypt, Port Said by Karavaiev; from Obok, by Maindron, 1893; and from Jansuame, Sahara, Iferouman Region, by Mission Fourreau-Lamy, 1900)
v euchrous n. var. - head, alitrunk and appendages red often quite bright; more slender; petiole scale higher; gaster black; pubescence greyish yellow; from "French Sudan".

Wheeler (1922) included an illustration of a worker (full profile and full-face head), showing it to be characterised by a concave posterior face to the propodeal declivity and a cuboid petiole (otherwise it resembles Camponotus vividus). He listed findings from Senegal (Dakar, C. Alluaud, F. Silvestri, and Cape Verde), Togo (Misahöhe, by Smend), Nigeria (Moor Plantation nr. Ibadan, W.A. Lamborn); elsewhere from widely across sub-Saharan Africa.

Santschi (1929c) noted that it had been found by de Peyerimhoff at Hoggar, Tamanrasset, Algeria, i.e. in the centre of the Sahara Desert, 6 to 10.iii.1928, 4 minor workers.

Its use of chemical signals in recruitment for tandem-running was studied by Hölldobler and colleagues (see Bradshaw & Howse, 1984).

Listed as a savannah species in Ivory Coast by Lévieux & Louis (1975). Lévieux (1978, 1983a), noted its presence (or a close relative) in savannah, at Ferkéssédougo, where it was preyed on by Myrmicaria opaciventris (as nitidans).

Specimens photographed were collected in Cameroun - 30 km east of Poli at a Sudan-Guinea savannah location (McKey Wolbachia project) - Cameroon 124, 15 June 2001.

A further specimen, from Guinea can be seen on the Antweb.org site at http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0104896&shot=p1&project=.

Other images can be seen in the folder at -

Photomontage of specimens from Sudan, South Kordofan Province, collected by Awatif Omer, 2006. Other images can be seen in the folder at -

Other images can be seen in the folder at - from Egypt ; from Gabon ; from Senegal ; and, from Mali