Camponotus fellah

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Camponotus fellah
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Species: C. fellah
Binomial name
Camponotus fellah
Dalla Torre, 1893

Camponotus fellah casent0905293 p 1 high.jpg

Camponotus fellah casent0905293 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran mostly on ground with one collection in desert and other collections in moderate rainfall, montane areas.

Identification

Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - C. fellah is a large species of Tanaemyrmex, with accentuated ground sculpture (major worker is mostly matte) and prismatic hindtibia that is provided ventrally with a row of bristles. C. fellah is similar to Camponotus xerxes, Camponotus thoracicus sensu lato, and Camponotus oasium from which it differs by the presence of erect setae on the ventral head surface, as opposed to a lack of such setae (see also Santschi, 1938, 1939; Cagniant, 1996; Collingwood and Agosti, 1996; Radchenko, 1997b).

Also see the nomenclature section (below) for further discussion of the variability found in specimens of this species.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - C. fellah is distributed in Syria and Lebanon (Emery, 1891; 1925b; Finzi, 1936; Tohmé and Tohmé, 2000), Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran (Paknia et al., 2008), Egypt (Taylor, 2007), and the Arabian Peninsula (Collingwood and Agosti, 1996).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 36.8° to 13.009167°.

     
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
Palaearctic Region: Egypt (type locality), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, Türkiye.

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

Nomenclature

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

  • fellah. Camponotus oasium var. fellah Dalla Torre, 1893: 245.
    • [First available use of Camponotus maculatus r. oasium var. fellah Emery, 1891b: 18 (s.w.) EGYPT, SYRIA, ERITREA; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
    • Type-material: syntype major and minor workers (numbers not stated).
    • Type-localities: Egypt (no further data), Syria (no further data), Eritrea: Assab (no collector’s name).
    • Type-depository: MSNG.
    • Emery, 1908a: 194 (s.q.m.).
    • Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 99.
    • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1896d: 371 (in list); Emery, 1898c: 127; Emery, 1905d: 34; Emery, 1908a: 194; Forel, 1911d: 359; Emery, 1920c: 6; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 959; Viehmeyer, 1923: 93; Emery, 1925b: 99; Menozzi, 1933b: 80; Finzi, 1936: 189; Santschi, 1938a: 42; Hamann & Klemm, 1967: 418.
    • Subspecies of maculatus: Forel, 1910a: 14; Forel, 1910c: 267.
    • Subspecies of thoracicus: Menozzi, 1929e: 128.
    • Subspecies of compressus: Santschi, 1939d: 80.
    • Status as species: Pisarski, 1971b: 728; Collingwood, 1985: 280; Kugler, J. 1988: 259; Bolton, 1995b: 99; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 372; Radchenko, 1996b: 1201 (in key); Radchenko, 1997d: 808; Tohmé & Tohmé, 2000: 389 (redescription); Paknia, et al. 2008: 153; Vonshak, et al. 2009: 39; Ionescu-Hirsch, 2010: 70; Collingwood, et al. 2011: 451; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 6; Karaman, C. & Aktaç, 2013: 53 (in key); Borowiec, L. 2014: 31; Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 137; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2020: 3.
    • Distribution: Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Taxonomic Notes

Pashaei Rad et al. (2018): Type location Egypt, CASENT0905293 (minor worker). The catalogue of Dalla Torre (1893) listed the species as Camponotus oasium var. fellah Emery, 1891. Whilst the catalogue as a whole was edited by Dalla Torre, Volume VII is attributed to Carl Emery. Crawley (1920b: 178) noted a single worker from “Mesopotamia” or “North-West Persia” that was “probably var. oasium or possibly var. fellah but impossible to determine without a major worker”. Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - Examination of a sample of 160 specimens of C. fellah from 70 localities from Israel and Egypt revealed that all have erect setae on the ventral head surface (minor workers have 1–2, majors have up to seven), whereas ten specimens of C. xerxes from Sinai, Saudi Arabia, and Iran and ten syntypes of C. thoracicus sensu lato and C. oasium from northern Africa have no such setae, except one in one major worker of C. oasium, in agreement with Santschi’s (1939) assessment.

Major workers of C. fellah from different nest series show marked differences with regard to body measures, e.g., eye length, scape length, pronotum width, and hindtibia length, especially between specimens from the central coastal plain and the ‘Arava Valley.

Measurements of HL, HW, EL, SL, PW, and hTbL of C. fellah (n = 129), C. xerxes (n = 10), and of syntypes of C. thoracicus sensu lato and C. oasium (n = 10) are similar, except for the antennal scape which is slightly shorter in C. fellah, and the eye and hindtibia which are slightly longer in C. xerxes.

The color is variable among nest series. In major workers, the head and mesosoma range from red or ochraceous, dorsally infuscate, to completely black. In paler specimens the coxae, petiolar scale, and at least a small area on the anterior gaster surface are light ferruginous to dark red, but this area does not extend to second gaster tergite; in darkest specimens, petiole and gaster are black. This color pattern distinguishes major workers of C. fellah from C. xerxes, which has the petiole paler than the unicolorous dark gaster, and from C. thoracicus sensu lato and C. oasium, which have the gaster with large yellow areas on the first and second tergite laterally.

Specimens from Syria, identified as C. fellah by Tohmé and Tohmé (2000), differ from those from Israel and Egypt by the lack of erect setae on the ventral head surface, a stouter body, and shorter appendages.

Differences between specimens from Israel and Egypt, on the one hand, and from Syria and Lebanon, on the other hand, and the fact that Israeli specimens show color and size variability in major workers that surpasses those reported in earlier descriptions, e.g., Emery (1908) and Tohmé and Tohmé (2000), suggest the occurrence of some cryptic species under the name C. fellah.

Description

Worker

Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - TL = 7.8–17.2, HL = 1.91–4.69, HW = 1.29–4.61, EL = 0.55–0.98, SL = 2.38–3.59, ML = 3.09–6.02, PW = 1.13–2.66, mTbL = 2.27–3.83, hTbL = 3.05–5.08 (n = 129).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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  • Ben Mordechai J., and J. Kugler. 1976. Ecology of ants in the desert loess plain (Sede Zin) of Sede Boqer (Central Negev). Israel Journal of Zoology 25: 216-217.
  • Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
  • Boulay, R., T. Katzav-Gozansky, A. Hefetz and A. Lenoir. 2004. Odour convergence and tolerance between nestmates through trophallaxis and grooming in the antCamponotus fellah(Dalla Torre). Insectes Sociaux 51(1):55-61.
  • Boulay, R., T. Katzav-Gozansky, R.K. Vander Meer and A. Hefetz. 2003. Colony Insularity through Queen Control on Worker Social Motivation in Ants. Proceedings: Biological Sciences 270 (1518):971-977
  • Collingwood C. A. 1985. Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 7: 230-302.
  • Collingwood C. A., D. Agosti, M. R. Sharaf, A. Van Harten, 2011. Order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae. Arthropod Fauna of the UAE 4: 405-474
  • Collingwood C.A., D.Agosti, M.R. Sharaf, and A. van Harten. 2011. Order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae. Arthropod fauna of the UAE, 4: 405–474
  • Collingwood, C. A., and Donat Agosti. "Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2)." Fauna of Saudi Arabia 15 (1996): 300-385.
  • Emery, C.. "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der palaearktischen Ameisen." Öfversigt af Finska Vetenskaps-Societetens Förhandlingar (Helsinki) 20 (1898): 124-151.
  • Emery, C.. "Exploration scientifique de la Tunisie. Zoologie. - Hyménoptères. Révision critique des fourmis de la Tunisie." Explor. Scient. De la Tunisie Zoll. Hym. (Folleto) Paris. Imp (1891): iii + 21 pp.
  • Finzi, B.. "Risultati scientifici della spedizione di S. A. S. il Principe Alessandro della Torre e Tasso nell'Egitto e peninsola del Sinai. XI. Formiche." Bulletin de la Société Entomologique d'Egypte 20 (1936): 155-210.
  • Forel A. 1910. Ameisen aus der Kolonie Erythräa. Gesammelt von Prof. Dr. K. Escherich (nebst einigen in West-Abessinien von Herrn A. Ilg gesammelten Ameisen). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 29: 243-274.
  • Forel A. 1910. Glanures myrmécologiques. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 54: 6-32.
  • Hamann H. H. F., and W. Klemm W. 1967. Ergebnisse der zoologischen Nubien-Expedition 1962. Teil XXXIV. Hymenoptera - Formicidae. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 70: 411-421.
  • Ionescu-Hirsch A. 2009. An annotated list of Camponotus of Israel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a key and descriptions of new species. ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY 39: 57–98.
  • Izhaki I., B. Idelovich, R. Laster, and Y. Ofer. 2009. The impact of macro- vs micro environmental factors on the structure of ant communities inhabiting East-Mediterranean Aleppo pine forests. Israel Journal of Entomology 39: 129-146.
  • Kugler J. 1988. The zoogeography of Israel. 9. The zoogeography of social insects of Israel and Sinai. Monographiae biologicae 62: 251-275.
  • Menozzi C. 1929. Formiche del Sinai raccolte dal Dr. F. S. Bodenheimer, con descrizione di una nuova specie di Monomorium del sottogen. Equestrimessor.. Pp. 125-128 in: Bodenheimer, F. S., Theodor, O. Ergebnisse der Sinai-Expedition 1927 der Hebräischen Universität, Jerusalem. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schum, 142 pp.
  • Paknia O., A. Radchenko, H. Alipanah, and M. Pfeiffer. 2008. A preliminary checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Iran. Myrmecological News 11: 151-159.
  • Pashaei Rad S., B. Taylor, R. Torabi, E. Aram, G. Abolfathi, R. Afshari, F. Borjali, M. Ghatei, F. Hediary, F. Jazini, V. Heidary Kiah, Z. Mahmoudi, F. Safariyan, and M. Seiri. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 64(2): 145-159.
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  • Viehmeyer H. 1923. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der mit Unterstützung der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien aus der Erbschaft Treitl von F. Werner unternommenen zoologischen Expedition nach dem anglo-ägyptischen Sudan (Kordofan) 1914. VII. Hymenoptera A. Formicidae. Denkschriften der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse 98: 83-94.
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