Camponotus (Myrmisolepis) braunsi Mayr var. candidus, Mcgavin & Mcgavin & Mcwilliam, 1907

Mcgavin, George, Mcgavin & Mcwilliam, Nicholas, 1907, Ants found on acacia of the genus Vachellia and other savannah trees at Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania with the description of a new species Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Belgian Journal of Entomology 99, pp. 1-47 : 26-33

Subfamily Formicinae

Camponotus (Myrmisolepis) braunsi Mayr, 1895 ; no type images; subspecies candidus Santschi, 1926 ( Camponotus (Myrmisolepis) braunsi Mayr var. candidus n. var., Santschi, 1926: 618, worker), type location Uganda, CASENT0911716. Note: the various subspecies shown on Antweb appear identical but without the type form images cannot be reliably synonymised. A medium sized ant, minor TL 4.5 mm, major TL 8 mm. Wide ranging in East Africa, Mozambique to Somalia. ROBERTSON (1999) reported it from Mkomazi woodland, nesting in dead branches on trees. One finding of 17 specimens on V. nilotica (Tree 5/64); major and minor workers.

Camponotus (Myrmisolepis) erinaceus Gerstäcker, 1871 ; CASENT0905434, major worker. A medium sized ant, minor TL 6.7 mm. Type location Arusha, Tanzania. One finding of 3 specimens on H. lucens (Tree 3/51); major and minor workers. Camponotus (Myrmopelta) kollbrunneri Forel, 1910 ; CASENT0910461, super major. A medium sized ant, the minor has not been not described, major TL 8.0 mm. First report from Tanzania; type location Ethiopia. One finding on H. lucens (Tree 3/50), 4 specimens, major worker illustrated, with a normal sized head for the genus. Camponotus (Myrmosericus) flavomarginatus Mayr, 1862 , CASENT0915599, major worker. A large ant, minor TL ca 6 mm, major TL 9 mm. First report from Tanzania; widespread across sub-Saharan Africa. Known as a quite common ground-nesting species that forages on trees. Five findings - 3 on V. zanzibarica (Trees 5/16, 5/17 & 5/28), 19- 46 specimens; 1 on Grewia sp (Tree 2/15), 1 specimen; 1 on T. brownii (Tree 3/68), 6 minor workers. Camponotus (Myrmosaga) jeanneli Santschi, 1914 , CASENT0911648, major, CASENT 0911649, minor worker. Type location Kenya, no other reports. Two findings both on V. nilotica (Trees 5/55, 2 specimens, & 5/64, 5 spec imens); range of worker sizes.

Camponotus (Myrmosaga) mombassae Forel, 1886 , revived status; no images on Antweb. A medium sized ant, major (?) TL 5.6 mm. First report from Tanzania; previously known only from holotype worker from Mombasa, Kenya, later inexplicably synonymized with C. acvapimensis from which it is very distinct. Forel’s description has the propodeum as very narrow, very inclined, feebly concave from front to back, much longer than the declivity from which it is separated by a very obtuse, rounded angle. One finding of 3 workers on O. holstii (Tree 3/56) which match the Forel description.

Camponotus (Myrmotrema) ilgii Forel, 1894 , CASENT0910497, worker. A medium sized ant, major-media TL 4.2-4.7 mm. Single dealate queen only on Ochna holstii (Tree 3/56), not fully verifiable; first report from Tanzania; earlier reports from spines of V. fistula Schwf. and V. bussei Harms.

Camponotus (Myrmotrema) olivieri Emery, 1892 , ssp. lemma Forel var. moshiana Forel, 1907 ) type location Tanzania, Moshi, CASENT 09022408. A medium sized ant, major-media TL 4.0- 5.8 mm. C. olivieri in many varieties is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. Four findings; three on V. zanzibarica , 1- 3 specimens (Trees 5/17, 5/27 & 5/28); one on T. brownii (Tree 3/68), 1 specimen; minor workers.

Camponotus (Orthonotomyrmex) sericeus (Fabricius, 1798) ; no type images but well known. A medium sized ant, minor TL 6-8.2 mm, major TL 8.0- 10 mm. Common pan-African species; ground-nesting and foraging. ROBERTSON (1999) reported it from Mkomazi grassland and woodland. Single finding, one major worker on D. cinerea (Tree 2/34).

Lepisiota depressa (Santschi, 1914) ; CASENT0912376 (note – the location label is correct but the name label is wrong). A small ant, TL 2.2-2.3 mm. First report from Tanzania; type location Kenya (coastal area, River Ramisi). Single finding of one specimen on V. dendropanolobium (Tree 5/60) .

Plagiolepis alluaudi Emery, 1894 ; CASENT0101699. Type location Seychelles. A minute ant, TL 1.4-1.5 mm. Reported from Tanzania by Forel (1907), Arusha-Chini, close to Mkomazi. Five findings; one on V. zanzibarica (Tree 5/17), 2 specimens; one on C. molle (Tree 3/65), 1 specimen; two on H. lucens (Trees 3/50 & 3/51), many and 12 specimens; one on O. holstii

(Tree 3/56), 3 specimens.

Plagiolepis pictipes Santschi, 1914 ; CASENT0912411. Type location Mbuyuni, Kenya, holotype specimen only. A minute ant, TL 1.4-1.5 mm. First report from Tanzania; two findings - one specimen on V. nilotica (Tree 5/64) and one specimen on Grewia sp.

Polyrhachis mkomzaiae sp. nov. Single finding of two specimens on T. brownii (Tree 3/68). Possibly, the P. cubaensis Mayr listed by ROBERTSON (1999).

See the species description (above).

Polyrhachis schistacea (Gerstäcker, 1859) ; FOCOL2576 . A large ant, TL 9.3-13.7 mm. Common pan-African savannah species; ground nesting but known to forage on bushes and to tend homoptera (ROBERTSON, 1999) Two findings; one on V. nilotica (Tree 5/64), 8 specimens ; one on V. zanzibarica (Tree 5/28), 10 specimens.

Polyrhachis viscosa F. Smith, 1858 ; CASENT0903462. A medium-sized ant, TL 5.9-7.6 mm. Common pan-African savannah species; ground-nesting but known to forage on trees and bushes. ROBERTSON (1999) reported it from Mkomazi woodland. Six findings all with single fig.s for specimens; two on V. nilotica (Trees 5/63 & 5/64); two on C. molle (Trees 3/64 & 3/65); one on L. schweinfurthii (Tree 3/67); and, two on T. brownii (Tree 3/68).