Camponotus acvapimensis Mayr, 1862

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Fisher, Brian L., Collingwood, Cedric A. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2017, Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): zoogeography, distribution and description of a new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 51 (5 - 6), pp. 317-378 : 323-325

Camponotus acvapimensis Mayr, 1862

( Figure 3 (a–c))

Camponotus acvapimensis Mayr, 1862: 664 (w.) Ghana. Afrotropical.

Diagnosis

The soldier of this species is readily distinguished from other species of the genus by the densely shagreened brown body; posterior corners of head each with four stout hairs, clypeus with several pairs of long pale hairs, pronotum with four pairs, mesonotum, propodeum and petiole each with a single pair of hairs, gaster with abundant, long, yellow hairs.

Material examined

Yemen, Socotra Island, Lehanoh , 22 April 2014, 931 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.57583°N, 54.04836°E (18 w, KSMA, 1 w, CASC) .

Geographic range

This species was described from Ghana and with a broad distribution in the Savannahs and forests of the Afrotropical region ( Collingwood 1985). It was recorded from Socotra by Collingwood et al. (2004) with no records known from the Arabian Peninsula. In Socotra, this species has a limited distribution and is confined to a few sites at higher elevations.

Ecological and biological notes

This species appears to be uncommon, only collected from one locality during the present study. Workers were found foraging on twigs of Croton socotranus Balf . f. ( Euphorbiaceae ). It seems likely that the species may be confined to higher elevation sites above 900 m. It was recorded from Dixam Plateau 1000–1200 m ( Collingwood et al. 2004).

Figures

Figure 3. Camponotus acvapimensis. (a) Body in profile. (b) Head in full-face view, CASENT0746632, AntWeb.org, (Zach Lieberman). (c) Distribution map, blue square from recent records, red square from Collingwood et al. (2004).