Myrmentoma

Cleft-lip Carpenter Ants

Diagnosis. Emery (1925) - "Worker and queen. - Medium species, generally robust; caste dimorphism pronounced. Head of majors and queens broad, neither truncated nor obtuse anteriorly, and with lateral margins arced, converging anteriorly somewhat; posterior head margin linear or slightly convex; head of minors stretched out, rounded posteriorly. Clypeus of majors without median carina, generally subcarinate in minors; with or without rounded anterior lobe; anterior margin usually medially notched or depressed; cheeks do not dominate the clypeus in majors and queens. Mandible with 5 or 6 teeth. Dorsum of mesosoma arched and continuous in majors, without margination, and with long propodeum; or more-or-less strongly impressed at the meso-metanotal suture, with dorsal peopoeal face usually marginate along sides and posterior margin. Petiolar scale more-or-less thick, but not nodiform. Male. - Body slightly long, head short. Antennae relatively short; antennomeres of flagellum somewhat longer than wide; pedicel longer and thicker than third antennomere; antennomeres 4 and 5 not much longer than apical antennomere.

Geographical distribution of the species.- Temperate and warm countries of the Holarctic Region, as far as Guatemala in America, and in the Old World, from Mediterranean Africa to the Himalayas; a doubtful record of one species from Taiwan.

Ethology. - The species of this group inhabit in small populations the bark of the trees, the dry branches and sometimes also the soil.''

(Translated and edited by B. E. Boudinot, 17 February 2017.)

Myrmentoma is currently a subgenus of Camponotus.

Species groups of Myrmentoma
Emery (1925) divided Myrmentoma into three groups and assigned species to each group using his brief diagnoses (the text that follows the bolded diagnosis headings below). Links to information and keys from more recent studies are shown below each diagnoses.

Group I: caryae

Diagnosis. - Mesosomal dorsum of worker continuous.


 * Camponotus fallax species-group information, based on a study by Radchenko (1997). This group is provisionally placed under the caryae group: Camponotus fallax species group

Group II: lateralis

Diagnosis. - Mesosomal dorsum of workers impressed anterior to propodeum. Cuticle shining.


 * Species-group information, based on studies by Radchenko (1997) and Seifert (2019): Camponotus lateralis species group.
 * Key to the Westpalaearctic Camponotus lateralis species group

Group III: kiesenwetteri

Diagnosis. - Mesosomal dorsum more-or-less impressed, propodeum marginate. Cuticle matte.


 * Species-group information, based on studies by Radchenko (1997) and Salata et al. (2019): Camponotus kiesenwetteri species group.
 * Key to Camponotus kiesenwetteri species group

Nomenclature

 *  MYRMENTOMA [subgenus of Camponotus]
 * Myrmentoma Forel, 1912i: 92 [as subgenus of Camponotus]. Type-species: Formica lateralis, by subsequent designation of Wheeler, W.M. 1913a: 80.
 * Myrmentoma junior synonym of Orthonotomyrmex: Forel, 1913b: 350 (in text); Forel, 1914a: 264; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 970.
 * Myrmentoma subgenus of Camponotus: Emery, 1920b: 257; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 707; Emery, 1925a: 62; Emery, 1925b: 116.