Camponotus mussolinii Donisthorpe

Shattuck, Steve, 2005, Review of the Camponotus aureopilus species­group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), including a second Camponotus with a metapleural gland, Zootaxa 903, pp. 1-20 : 11-13

Camponotus mussolinii Donisthorpe ( Figs 13–15 )

Camponotus (Myrmophyma) mussolinii Donisthorpe 1936: 528 . Two worker syntypes from Kokoda, Papua New Guinea (BMNH, examined).

Diagnosis (minor worker). Enlarged hairs on pronotum present, white and covering the entire dorsal surface; pubescence on dorsum of head abundant and closely spaced.

Description (minor worker). Posterolateral surface of head essentially flat and with a weak angle running between the eye and the posterolateral corner; a slight concavity is present just below this ridge near the posterolateral corner. Antennal scape long, surpassing posterior margin of head by about one­half its length. Petiolar node low, forming a blunt, rounded angle dorsally and with a slight anterior tilt. White erect hairs abundant on pronotum (but not as dense as the enlarged hairs found in other species), those on the mesonotum, propodeum, petiolar node and gaster less abundant but still numerous; appressed pubescence abundant on entire body. Colour black with legs red­brown.

Measurements. Minor worker (n=4): CI 90–92, HL 1.86–1.94mm, HW 1.68– 1.77mm, ML 2.80–2.95mm, MTL 2.13–2.19mm, SI 139–163, SL 2.40–2.47mm.

Material Examined. Papua New Guinea: Northern District: Managalase plateau, ca. 30mi S Popondetta (Pullen,R.) ( ANIC).

Comments. This species is similar to C. thadeus but differs in the colour of the erect body hairs and the abundant pubescence (the hairs are yellow and the pubescence sparse in thadeus ) as well as in lacking the metapleural gland. It is so far known from only a limited number of collections, all from Papua New Guinea.

Figures

FIGURES 13 – 15. C. mussolinii Donisthorpe, minor worker. Fig. 13, front of head; Fig. 14, dorsum of mesosoma; Fig. 15, side of body.