Camponotus mixtellus

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

Camponotus hova mixtellus casent0101893 profile 1.jpg

Camponotus hova mixtellus casent0101893 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Camponotus mixtellus is a widespread species of the Malagasy region that occurs in the eastern lowland to montane rainforests and part of the western dry forests of Madagascar; it is known also from secondary rainforest and dry forest habitats of Grand Comore and Moheli of the Comoros islands (Fig. 67D). As this species is both arboreal and terrestrial, its members are commonly found foraging on low vegetation and on the ground, and nest in dead branches and twigs above the ground, in rotten logs and rotting tree stumps, in the ground, or under stones.

Identification

Lateral cephalic margins approximately parallel in full-face view; two apical teeth of mandible normally spaced; antennal scape covered with suberect hairs inclined at ca. 30°; in lateral view, posterior 1/2 of mesonotum to posterodorsal corner of propodeum somewhat convex, propodeal dorsum ca. 2 × as long as the height of declivity surface; petiolar node flattened anteroposteriorly.

Camponotus mixtellus can be confused with Camponotus hovahovoides, but the latter has a longer propodeal dorsum that is ca. 3 × as long as the declivity. It looks similar to C. boivini but the latter is characterized by an antennal scape covered with suberect hairs inclined at ca. 45°.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Comoros.
Malagasy Region: Madagascar (type locality), Mayotte, Seychelles.

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

Camponotus hova mixtellus casent0101924 head 1.jpgCamponotus hova mixtellus casent0101924 profile 1.jpgCamponotus hova mixtellus casent0101924 dorsal 1.jpgCamponotus hova mixtellus casent0101924 label 1.jpg
Paralectotype of Camponotus mixtellusWorker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0101924. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

  • mixtellus. Camponotus radamae var. mixtellus Dalla Torre, 1893: 249.
    • [First available use of Camponotus maculatus r. radamae var. mixtellus Forel, 1891b: 433 (s.w.) MADAGASCAR; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
    • Forel, 1912k: 165 (q.m.).
    • Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 85.
    • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1896d: 370 (in list); Forel, 1913k: 165; Emery, 1920c: 5; Arnold, 1922: 628; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 1041.
    • Subspecies of hova: Emery, 1925b: 85; Bolton, 1995b: 112; Dorow, 1996a: 86.
    • Status as species: Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022: 130.

Type Material

  • Lectotype minor worker, by present designation, Madagascar, Forêt des bords de l’Ivondrona, près de Tamatave (Dr Conrad Keller) AntWeb CASENT0101893 (MHNG) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].
  • Paralectotype major worker, Madagascar (André) CASENT0101924 (MHNG) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].

Description

References

  • Dalla Torre, K. W. von. 1893. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus. Vol. 7. Formicidae (Heterogyna). Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 289 pp. (page 249, soldier, worker described)
  • Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 85, Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex), and variety of hova)
  • Forel, A. 1912l. The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Indian Ocean in 1905, under the leadership of Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner, M.A. Volume 4. No. XI. Fourmis des Seychelles et des Aldabras, reçues de M. Hugh Scott. Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. (2) 15: (page 165, queen, male described)
  • Rakotonirina, J.C., Fisher, B.L. 2022. Revision of the Malagasy Camponotus subgenus Myrmosaga (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) using qualitative and quantitative morphology. ZooKeys 1098: 1–180 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1098.73223).
  • Wheeler, W. M. 1922k. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. IX. A synonymic list of the ants of the Malagasy region. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 4 45: 1005-1055 (see also)