Camponotus lespesii Forel 1886

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

Camponotus lespesii Forel 1886 c.

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

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

Camponotus lespesi Forel. Mayr 1887: 513 .

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

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

Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) lespesi subsp. melancholica Emery. Emery 1925: 83 . Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) lespesi melancholicus Forel. Kempf 1972: 68 .

In my opinion the literature records of C. lespesii and C. lespesii melancholicus 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 types. The distinct appearance of this ant renders it unlikely to be confused with any other species in Paraguay. Camponotus lespesii is large (mesosomal length> 3.5mm in major workers) and more gracile than any other Paraguayan Camponotus 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 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 here.