Camponotus lespesii Forel

Wild, A. L., 2007, A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)., Zootaxa 1622, pp. 1-55 : 50

publication ID

21367

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B08DA0DB-EEC0-4ED3-9FBE-59328B034102

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6239938

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E1AE88C6-D656-434E-0E4B-AAAD911CA7A4

treatment provided by

Thomas

scientific name

Camponotus lespesii Forel
status

 

Camponotus lespesii Forel View in CoL   HNS 1886c.

Camponotus sexguttatus r. lespesii Forel   HNS 1886c: 169. [holotype w examined, MHNG; Colombia] .

Camponotus lespesi subsp. melancholicus Emery   HNS 1894b: 2. NEW SYNONYMY. [w syntypes examined, MCSN, MHNG; Colonia Risso , Paraguay (Borelli)]

Camponotus lespesi Forel   HNS . Mayr 1887: 513.

Camponotus (Dinomyrmex) lespesi Forel   HNS . Forel 1914a: 268.

Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) lespesi Forel   HNS . Emery 1925: 83.

Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) lespesi subsp. melancholica Emery   HNS . Emery 1925: 83.

Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) lespesi melancholicus Forel   HNS . Kempf 1972: 68.

In my opinion the literature records of C. lespesii   HNS and C. lespesii melancholicus   HNS from Paraguay pertain to a single species, and the differences in identification stem from alternate taxonomic interpretations on the part of Forel and Emery. All of the material I have examined is rather homogenous and closely matches Emery’s melancholicus   HNS types. The distinct appearance of this ant renders it unlikely to be confused with any other species in Paraguay. Camponotus lespesii   HNS is large (mesosomal length> 3.5mm in major workers) and more gracile than any other Paraguayan Camponotus   HNS of similar size. Additional diagnostic characters include: head of major worker considerably longer than broad; sides of head of major bearing>15 standing setae; antennal scapes lacking standing setae; antennal scapes longer than head length; mesosoma low and elongate, declivitous propodeal face less than 1/3 length of dorsal face; sculpture of head, mesosoma, and gaster opaque.

Forel’s lespesii   HNS type, a large minor worker from Colombia, is somewhat lighter in color than the Paraguayan specimens but is otherwise similar. For the purpose of eliminating a trinomen I synonymize C. melancholicus   HNS here.

MHNG

Switzerland, Geneva, Museum d'Histoire Naturelle

MCSN

Italy, Genova, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale "Giacomo Doria"

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Formicidae

Genus

Camponotus

GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF