Tetramorium setiferum Mayr subspecies quaerens Forel

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 : 193

Tetramorium setiferum Mayr subspecies quaerens Forel

Plate XVIII, Figures 1 and 2 Numerous workers from Niapu (Lang and Chapin). The note accompanying the specimens states that they "form a ring of loose particles of soil about the entrance of their nests during the rainy season, each ant carrying the particle to a certain distance and then letting it drop and returning at once to the entrance. During the dry season they carry out the particles and food-remnants without attempting to construct a crater. The photographs (Pl. XVIII) show the difference in the appearance of the nest during the wet and dry seasons. These ants are very common, as about a dozen colonies were observed about the village of Niapu. They were usually situated along the paths or in clearings and seem to prefer dry soil."