Lepisiota capensis guineensis

Lepisiota capensis guineensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Plagiolepidini
Genus:	Lepisiota
Species:	L. capensis
Subspecies:	L. capensis guineensis
Trinomial name
	Lepisiota capensis guineensis; (Mayr, 1902)

Reported and illustrated by Taylor (1978) as the most commonly seen Lepisiota at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Idi Ayunre, CRIN, where it was one of the most abundant of all ant species. Nests are usually made in dead wood both on standing trees or on the ground. Forage widely across the ground and on almost any vegetation or trees. Dominant on 9-10% of cocoa, and 53/76 farms (combined result with other Lepisiota species) in Nigeria, where it was regarded as negatively associated with Oecophylla longinoda (Taylor 1977; Taylor & Adedoyin 1978). There they are avid tenders of aphids and coccids, often building tents of soil material over these Homoptera; curiously these soil tents have not been found to be associated with black pod disease. Also found on coffee, kola, oil palm and plantains. Taylor et al. (2018) report finding workers in Benin on the ground and on trees, arboreal nesting in hollow branchs, as antagonistic to O. longinoda, nesting in a hollow branch at 2.5 m, and under bark of Eucalyptus.

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -0.317° to -5.25°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Benin, Gambia, Ghana (type locality), Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

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.

Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

guineensis. Acantholepis capensis var. guineensis Mayr, 1902: 296 (w.) GHANA. Combination in Lepisiota: Bolton, 1995b: 227.

Taxonomic Notes

Taylor et al. (2018) note that this subspecies is "Readily separable from L. capensis (Mayr, 1862) as that has stout dark erect hairs whereas this has finer colourless erect hairs.", and propose treating this taxon as a full species. This proposal has not been followed by recent authors.

Description

References

Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 227, Combination in Lepisiota)
Mayr, G. 1902. Hymenopterologische Miscellen. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 52: 287-303 (page 296, worker described)
Taylor B. 1977. The ant mosaic on cocoa and other tree crops in Western Nigeria. Ecological Entomology 2: 245–255 (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.1977.tb00887.x).
Taylor B. 1978. Ants of the Nigerian Forest Zone (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). II. Formicinae, Dolichoderinae. Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria Research Bulletin 5: 1–57.
Taylor B., Adedoyin S.F. 1978. The abundance and inter-specific relations of common ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on cocoa farms in Western Nigeria. Bulletin of Entomological Research 68: 105–121 (doi:10.1017/S0007485300007197).
Taylor, B., Agoinon, N., Sinzogan, A., Adandonon, A., Kouaguou, Y. N., Bello, S., Wargui, R., Anato, F., Ouagoussounon, I., Houngbo, H., Tchibozo, S., Todjihounde, R., Vayssieres, J.F. 2018. Records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Republic of Benin, with particular reference to the mango farm ecosystem. Journal of Insect Biodiversity 8(1): 6-29 (doi:10.12976/jib/2018.08.1.2).