Camponotus strangulatus

Endemic to the Malagasy region, C. strangulatus occurs in Grand Comore and Moheli of the Comoros islands, in Mayotte, in Aldabra of the Seychelles, and in Madagascar (Fig. 74D). In the Comoros and Mayotte this species occupies mangrove and coastal dry forest scrub, while in the Seychelles it also inhabits forest habitats. Regarding the distribution of C. strangulatus in Madagascar, it is found in rainforest and littoral rainforest in the north, in dry forest in the west, in spiny forest and thicket in the south, in montane rainforest and Uapaca woodland on the south-central high plateau, and in human modiﬁed habitats in its southern range. It also occurs in littoral vegetation on Juan de Nova Island. Due to its capacity to colonize different types of habitats, C. strangulatus also builds nests in a large array of microhabitats such as rotten logs and rotten sticks on the ground, dead branches and dead twigs above the ground, under stones, and in the ground. Workers forage on the forest ﬂoor, in leaf litter, and on lower vegetation.

Identification
With head in full-face view, lateral cephalic margins anterior to eye level parallel, lacking erect hairs; in oblique proﬁle, three pairs of erect hairs arranged successively from level of anterior ocular margin towards posterior cephalic margin; clypeus with distinct anterolateral corner; in proﬁle, junction of propodeal dorsum to declivity rounded; petiole nodelike and not anteroposteriorly compressed.

Camponotus strangulatus may be difficult to distinguish from Camponotus tapia and Camponotus atimo but the dorsum of the head in the latter species bears four or more pairs of erect hairs arranged successively from the level of the anterior ocular margin towards the posterior cephalic margin. (Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Comoros. Malagasy Region: Madagascar, Mayotte, Seychelles.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus maculatus st. strangulatus Santschi, 1911e: 129, fig. 3 (s.w.q.) MADAGASCAR.
 * Synonym of maculatoides: Emery, 1920c: 6.
 * [Note: Emery gives maculatoides as senior synonym, but strangulatus has priority (Bolton, 1995b: 125).]
 * Subspecies of maculatus: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 1042; Bolton, 1995b: 125.
 * Status as species: Olson & Ward, 1996: 164.
 * Senior synonym of maculatoides: Bolton, 1995b: 125.
 * maculatoides. Camponotus (Myrmoturba) hova subsp. maculatoides Emery, 1920c: 6.
 * [First available use of Camponotus maculatus r. hova var. maculatoides Forel, 1897c: 200 (w.) MADAGASCAR; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
 * Combination in C. (Dinomyrmex): Santschi, 1921f: 312.
 * As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1898a: 225; Forel, 1907e: 14; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 1041.
 * Subspecies of hova: Emery, 1920c: 6; Emery, 1925b: 86.
 * [Note: Emery gives maculatoides as senior synonym, but strangulatus has priority (Bolton, 1995b: 125).]
 * Junior synonym of strangulatus: Emery, 1920d: 6; Emery, 1925d: 86; Bolton, 1995b: 125; Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022: 164.

Type Material
Camponotus maculatus strangulatus
 * Lectotype major worker, designated by Rakotonirina & Fisher (2022), Madagascar, Vitikampy; Morondava, AntWeb CASENT0101097 (NHMB) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].

Camponotus hova maculatoides
 * Lectotype minor worker, designated by Rakotonirina & Fisher (2022), Madagascar, Nosibe, Antsiranana (Voeltzkow) AntWeb CASENT0101095 (NHMB) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].
 * Paralectotypes: 1 minor worker and 3 major workers of same data as lectotype, but minor and majors respectively specimen coded as: CASENT0101339, CASENT0101338, CASENT0101747 (MHNG) and CASENT0101095 (NHMB) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].

Taxonomic Notes
As generally known, the genus Camponotus displays polymorphism in the worker castes and this feature is ampliﬁed by the phenotypic variation within the castes when the species has speciﬁcally a large geographic distribution. This is especially true for C. strangulatus which inhabits most of the terrestrial landscapes, but not the rainforests in the east of Madagascar. Camponotus hova maculatoides, created by Emery (1920b) was found in Nosibe, north of Madagascar, an area within the range of C. strangulatus. Observations of the type specimens of the species and subspecies prove the absence of strong morphological traits to differentiate them. The comparison of the type specimens of C. hova maculatoides with the samples of workers for C. strangulatus did not show striking morphological difference. Consequently, C. hova maculatoides is placed under synonymy here.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Fisher B. L. 1997. Biogeography and ecology of the ant fauna of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 31: 269-302.
 * Fisher B. L. 2003. Formicidae, ants. Pp. 811-819 in: Goodman, S. M.; Benstead, J. P. (eds.) 2003. The natural history of Madagascar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, xxi + 1709 pp.
 * Forel A. 1897. Ameisen aus Nossi-Bé, Majunga, Juan de Nova (Madagaskar), den Aldabra-Inseln und Sansibar, gesammelt von Herrn Dr. A. Voeltzkow aus Berlin. Mit einem Anhang über die von Herrn Privatdocenten Dr. A. Brauer in Marburg auf den Seychellen und von Herrn Perrot auf Ste. Marie (Madagaskar) gesammelten Ameisen. Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 21: 185-208.
 * Forel A. 1907. Formiciden aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum in Hamburg. II. Teil. Neueingänge seit 1900. Mitt. Naturhist. Mus. Hambg. 24: 1-20.
 * Santschi F. 1911. Nouvelles fourmis de Madagascar. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 19: 117-134.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. 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. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 1005-1055