Leptogenys stuhlmanni Mayr subspecies camerunensis (Stitz) variety opalescens, Wheeler, W. M., 1922

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 : 94-95

Leptogenys stuhlmanni Mayr subspecies camerunensis (Stitz) variety opalescens , new variety

Worker.-Agreeing with the variety angusticeps Forel in all respects, except that the head, thorax, petiole, and to some extent also the gaster, have a peculiar opalescent blue reflection like that seen in L. iridescens (F. Smith) and chinensis (Mayr) .

Thirteen workers taken from the stomachs of toads (Bufo funereus and polycercus) from Akenge (Lang and Chapin). Forel drew his description of angusticeps from a single specimen taken at St. Gabriel, near Stanleyville. He says nothing about the blue reflection, which is very striking, so that I am unable to refer the specimens to his variety.

The habits of the typical stuhlmanni have been studied by Arnold.1 He says:

I have met with this species only in Natal, where it appears to feed exclusively on woodlice; the entrance to the nest can be plainly distinguished by the accumulation of the remains of their prey, bleached a dead white, scattered around it. The nest is not indicated by any mound or other accumulation of earth; but in the neighborhood of Durban at least, it is very frequently found in, or immediately adjacent to, the nests of Myrmicaria eumenoides Gerst . I am inclined to think that this Leptogenys dispossesses the latter species of a part of their large nest, rather than take the t ouble of excavating one for itself. It also has a very noticeable smell, resembling essence of pears.

In 1904 1 I recorded the fact that our North American species feeds very largely on slaters (Oniscus and Armadillidium) and that "the earth surrouding the entrances to the nests is invariably white with innumerable bleaching limbs and segments of the crustaceans." The use of the same food by two species of Leptogenys in such remote regions as Natal and Texas would seem to indicate that the habit must be rather general in the genus.