Tetramorium delagoense

Identification
A member of the Tetramorium simillimum species group.

Bolton (1980) - Within the simillimum-complex of this group T. delagoense is closest related to Tetramorium simillimum, Tetramorium rhetidum and Tetramorium bothae by the possession of dense reticulate-punctate or granular ground-sculpture on the head and elsewhere. It is quickly separable from these related forms by its possession of a single stiff hair which projects from each side of the head immediately behind the eye on each side, this character being absent in all three of the close relatives of T. delagoense.

Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - This species is much like Tetramorium simillimum with very similar size, form and sculpture. It differs in having one or two projecting hairs on the genae at each side between the occiput and eye level. It is recorded from a wide area in Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa (Bolton 1980) and also recently in Palestine.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Angola, Comoros, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania. Malagasy Region: Madagascar, Mayotte. Palaearctic Region: Israel.

Nomenclature

 *  delagoense. Tetramorium simillimum st. delagoense Forel, 1894b: 80 (w.q.m.) MOZAMBIQUE. Raised to species and senior synonym of madecassum: Bolton, 1979: 156.
 * madecassum. Tetramorium simillimum var. madecassum Forel, 1895c: 248 (w.) MADAGASCAR. Junior synonym of delagoense: Bolton, 1979: 156.

Worker
Bolton (1980) - TL 2.1-2.9, HL 0.52-0.68, HW 0.44-0.56, CI 83-90, SL 0.36-0.54, SI 84-92, PW 0.32-0.44, AL 0.58-0.80 (60 measured).

Mandibles finely sculptured with dense weak striation or dense shagreening. Anterior clypeal margin entire, without trace of a median notch or impression. Frontal carinae strongly developed, running unbroken almost to the occipital margin, as strongly or more strongly developed than the remaining cephalic sculpture. Maximum separation of frontal carinae at eye level 0.24-0.32, about 0.50-0.58 x HW. Antennal scrobes conspicuous, forming a concavity in the side of the head between the frontal carina and the eye on each side, and extending back almost to the occipital corner. Maximum diameter of eye 0.12-0.14, about 0.24-0.27 x HW and with 7-8 ommatidia in the longest row. Propodeum armed with a Pair of short triangular teeth which at most are as long as the metapleural lobes but are usually shorter and always narrower than them. Petiole in dorsal view broader than long. Dorsum of head finely and quite densely irregularly longitudinally rugulose and with a dense reticulate-punctate or granulate groundsculpture. Scrobal areas densely reticulate-punctate, without rugular sculpture or at most with one or two fine rugulae immediately above and very close to the eye. Dorsal alitrunk with irregular and usually weak scattered rugulae superimposed upon a reticulate-punctulate or granular ground-sculpture. Petiole and postpetiole reticulate-punctulate or granular, usually without rugulae but sometimes with one or two present. First gastral tergite unsculptured or at most with a narrow band of weak shagreening basally. All dorsal surfaces of head and body with short, stout, blunt, more or less straight hairs. With the head in fullface view the sides immediately behind the eyes with a single stout hair which projects freely beyond the outline of the sides and is directed anteriorly. Tibiae of middle and hind legs with short pubescence which is decumbent or appressed. Colour variable, all shades between yellowish brown and black.

Type Material
Bolton (1980) - Syntype workers, females, males, MOZAMBIQUE: Delagoa (Liengme) [examined].

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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 * Arnold G. 1917. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part III. Myrmicinae. Annals of the South African Museum. 14: 271-402.
 * Bolton B. 1980. The ant tribe Tetramoriini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The genus Tetramorium Mayr in the Ethiopian zoogeographical region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 40: 193-384.
 * Forel A. 1910. Note sur quelques fourmis d'Afrique. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 54: 421-458.
 * Garcia F.H., Wiesel E. and Fischer G. 2013.The Ants of Kenya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)Faunal Overview, First Species Checklist, Bibliography, Accounts for All Genera, and Discussion on Taxonomy and Zoogeography. Journal of East African Natural History, 101(2): 127-222
 * IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
 * Koen J. H., and W. Breytenbach. 1988. Ant species richness of fynbos and forest ecosystems in the Southern Cape. South Afr. Tydskr. Dierk. 23(3): 184-188.
 * Nsengimana V., K. A. Beth, F. Frederic, K. M. M. Lombart, D. Wouter, and N. Donat. 2018. Use of soil and litter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as biological indicators of soil quality under different land uses in Southern Rwanda. Environmental Entomology 47(6): 1394-1401.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004