Camponotus christophei

One of numerous endemic Hispaniola Camponotus species that we known very little about.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Dominican Republic, Greater Antilles, Haiti.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus christophei Wheeler, W.M. & Mann, 1914: 57, figs. 25, 26 (s.) HAITI.
 * Combination in C. (Myrmeurynota): Forel, 1914a: 274.
 * Status as species: Emery, 1925b: 168; Wheeler, W.M. 1936b: 207; Kempf, 1972a: 49; Bolton, 1995b: 92; Lubertazzi, 2019: 83.

Worker
Major

Length 5-6 mm.

Head rather large, subtrapezoidal, seen from above as broad as long, broadest behind, with rather straight posterior border and rectangular posterior corners, each with a sharp ridge running to the eye, the sides flattened behind and below this ridge, the cheeks rather convex. In profile the head is convex above and below, with elliptical, rather large, flattened eyes situated behind its median transverse diameter. Mandibles small, very convex, 5-6-toothed. Clypeus flat, indistinctly carinate, its anterior border sinuately excised in the middle, Frontal area obsolete. Frontal carinae curved, but rapidly diverging behind where they are fully twice as far apart as in front. Frontal groove absent. Antennae slender, scapes curved, but slightly enlarged towards their tips, which extend a little beyond the posterior corners of the head. Thorax short, flattened above and on the sides, the pronotum less than twice as broad as long, broader in front where it is a little narrower than the head, rounded and produced in the middle anteriorly over the neck, with each side expanded into a sharp, aliform plate, which is slightly reflected. Its outline seen from above is slightly rounded and produced at the anterior corner as a distinct triangular tooth. Promesonotal suture very distinct, meso- and epinotum fused to form a single mass which is about as long as, but much narrower than the pronotum; the mesonotum trapezoidal, less than twice as broad as long, strongly marginate on the sides which are straight and separated from the base of the epinotum by a straight, transverse ridge, instead of the suture, which is absent. Epinotum very short, high in profile, with very abrupt, slightly concave declivity and extremely short, feebly convex base, the two surfaces forming a distinct angle with each other. Petiole nearly as broad as the epinotum behind, but its scale much lower than the base of the epinotum, much compressed anteroposteriorly, with rather sharp, broadly rounded superior border. Gaster oval, broader in front than behind, distinctly flattened dorsoventrally, the first segment sharply marginate anteriorly. Legs rather stout.

Opaque; head and thorax very densely and uniformly punctate; sides and posterior portion of head and the pleural also finely and regularly longitudinally rugulose. Gaster with a velvety texture produced by extremely fine and dense shagreening. Posterior margin of head, mandibles and anterior surfaces of fore legs shining.

Hairs white, coarse, blunt, suberect, most abundant on the upper surface of the head, pro-and mesonotum, base of epinotum and border of petiole; sparser on the gaster, appressed on the pleural. Flexor borders of femora with a fringe of similar hairs. Pubescence white, appressed, short and coarse on the body and the legs, except on the upper surface of the gaster, where it is long and aggregated on each side to form a broad yellowish white band, which tapers anteriorly and posteriorly. On the venter there are two patches of similar appressed pubescence, but shorter and less dense. The pubescence on the remainder of the gaster is even shorter and sparser than on the head.

Black; antennae light red; mandibles and last tarsal joints dark red; angles of pronotum brownish, somewhat translucent.

Type Locality Information
Described from four specimens taken near Milot on blades of a tall grass outside the citadel of Henri Christophe, former king of Haiti, and also running about on the stone-work inside the fortification.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * Perez-Gelabert D. E. 2008. Arthropods of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti): A checklist and bibliography. Zootaxa 1831:1-530.
 * Wheeler W. M., and W. M. Mann. 1914. The ants of Haiti. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 33: 1-61.
 * Wheeler, William Morton. 1936. Ants From Hispaniola and Mona Island. Bulletin: Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 80(2):192-211.