Crematogaster (Nematocrema) stadelmanni variety dolichocephala (Santschi)

Wheeler, W. M., 1922, The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition., Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45, pp. 39-269 : 160

Crematogaster (Nematocrema) stadelmanni variety dolichocephala (Santschi)

Plate Xlii, Figure 2 and Plate XIV

Bengamisa, [[worker]],[[queen]]; Manamana, [[worker]],[[queen]]; Kwamouth, [[worker]]; Ngayu, [[worker]], [[queen]] (Lang and Chapin). Numerous specimens from all these localities. The specimens from Bengamisa were accompanied by the photograph of the nest shown in Plate XIV, and the following note: "Ants from a pendent nest in very hard, woody carton. These nests are very common in the Rain Forest. They often fall to the ground but, in spite of the great moisture, resist disintegration fairly well. The ants leave as soon as the nest has dropped. The nests are precisely like those of some termites in shape and material, so that it is often impossible to decide from their external appearance which insect inhabits them. The internal cellular structure is very irregular and seems to follow no particular plan. The larva? and pupse are found in any of the cavities. The nest represented in the photograph was fixed to several creepers and was practically swaying in the wind about twenty-five feet above the ground. Size and shape vary much according to the situation of the structure." The following note accompanies the specimens from Kwamouth, together with the photograph shown in Plate XIII, fig. 2: "Black ants taken from a nest hanging on a tree about nine feet from the ground. This nest was cone-shaped and was fastened to several small branches in such a manner as to sway when it was struck with a stick. The ants raise their abdomens and sting quite furiously when annoyed. The nest is rough on the outside and very irregular, with a great many exits. The internal cellular structure resembles crumpled leaves overlapping one another like the shingles covering a roof. The walls separating the chambers are very thin, only one-eighth to one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness. The whole of the nest that was photographed was about eighteen inches long and eleven inches broad on top. The brood was abundant in the lowermost chambers. The ants dropped by hundreds to the ground when the nest was hit."