Aenictus weissi

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Aenictus weissi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dorylinae
Genus: Aenictus
Species group: rotundatus
Species complex: rotundatus
Species: A. weissi
Binomial name
Aenictus weissi
Santschi, 1910

Aenictus weissi casent0911444 p 1 high.jpg

Aenictus weissi casent0911444 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Identification

The lack of a developed subpetiolar process and the presence of a horizontal propodeal ridge separates this species from the rest in the rotundatus complex except for Aenictus nyuyi, but both species are separable by the shorter scapes (SIL<75 against SIL>80).

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 9° to -1.68333°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Cameroon, Congo (type locality), Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Aenictus weissi casent0911445 d 1 high.jpgAenictus weissi casent0911445 p 1 high.jpgAenictus weissi casent0911445 h 1 high.jpgAenictus weissi casent0911445 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Aenictus rixator congolensisWorker. Specimen code casent0911445. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMB, Basel, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • weissi. Aenictus weissi Santschi, 1910c: 354, fig. 2 (w.) CONGO.
    • Type-material: holotype male.
    • Type-locality: Congo (“Congo français”): Gomba (A. Weiss).
    • Type-depository: NHMB.
    • Santschi, 1920b: 9 (q.).
    • Status as species: Forel, 1913j: 212; Santschi, 1920b: 9; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 755; Menozzi, 1942: 165; Eidmann, 1944: 429; Bolton, 1995b: 61.
    • Distribution: Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea (Bioko I.), Gabon.

Type Material

  • Syntype, GABON (as Congo fr.): Gomba (A. Weiss) (1w) [CASENT0911444] NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntype, GABON, 1914 (F. Faure) (1w) MHNG [Examined by Gomez, 2022].

Gomez (2022): Type material is referred to Congo Francaise, Gomba. I’m assuming this location refers to Gomba city in Gabon. Although different catalogues cite the queen caste as described in SANTSCHI (1920), this reference only cites the species from Gabon, so the queen remains undescribed.

The specimen from Gr. Batanga (Cameroon) labelled as type has two identification labels: Aenictus weissi wasmanni Santschi and Aenictus rixator v. congolensis. Two more workers with the same data seem to belong to the same series and are labelled as Aenictus weissi wasmanni Santschi. This material is referred here to A. weissi, as A. weissi wasmanni seems to be unpublished.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Borowiec M. L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1–280.
  • Eidmann H. 1944. Die Ameisenfauna von Fernando Poo. 27. Beitrag zu den Ergebnissen der Westafrika-Expedition. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Ökol. Geogr. Tiere 76: 413-490.
  • Menozzi C. 1942. Formiche dell'isola Fernando Poo e del territorio del Rio Muni (Guinea Spagnola). 24. Beitrag zu den wissenschaftlichen Ergebnissen der Forschungsreise H. Eidmann nach Spanisch-Guinea 1939 bis 1940. Zoologischer Anzeiger 140: 164-182.
  • Santschi F. 1910. Formicides nouveaux ou peu connus du Congo français. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 78: 349-400.
  • Santschi F. 1920. Formicides nouveaux du Gabon, du Congo, de la Rhodesia et du Natal. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 60: 6-17.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004