Tetramorium camerunense

One specimen of this species is noted as being collected from a canopy fogging sample. Another collection record is from a litter sample, and a litter study in Ghana (Belshaw and Bolton 1994) also found two individuals of this ant in one of its samples.

Identification
Bolton (1980) - Amongst the four uniformly dark-coloured species of the camerunense-complex this species is quickly separable by its possession of sharply defined, spaced-out cephalic rugulae without ground-sculpture between them. In all three related species (Tetramorium hapale, Tetramorium ictidum, Tetramorium ubangense) the rugulae are less well-defined on the head and the spaces between them have a conspicuous punctulate or granular ground-sculpture.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Cameroun, Guinea, Kenya.

Nomenclature

 *  camerunense. Tetramorium camerunense Mayr, 1895: 129 (w.) CAMEROUN. See also: Bolton, 1980: 338.

Worker
Bolton (1980) - TL 2.7-3.1, HL 0.72-0.78, HW 0.64-0.70, CI 87-90, SL 0.50-0.56, SI 78-81, PW 0.43-0.46, AL 0.78-0.84 (6 measured).

Mandibles smooth and shining with scattered small pits. Anterior clypeal margin with a small but quite distinct median impression. Median clypeal carina sharp and conspicuous, flanked by another carina on each side but otherwise the clypeus unsculptured. Frontal carinae fine but sharp, reaching back almost to the occipital margin in some cases, but sometimes ending before it or becoming confused with the remaining cephalic sculpture. Maximum diameter of eyes 0.14-0.17, about 0.22-0.24 x HW. Propodeal spines short and narrow, usually longer than the low, broadly angular metapleural lobes. Petiole node in profile narrowing from base to apex so that the dorsal length is less than the height of the tergal portion, the posterior face less steeply sloping than the anterior. In dorsal view the node broader than long. Dorsum of head with sparse, widely spaced, sharply developed fine longitudinal rugulae, the spaces between which are almost completely smooth and highly polished. Ground-sculpture as such is absent but under the right lighting conditions an exceptionally faint fine superficial pattern can be seen. Occipital region of head without a rugoreticulum though one or two anastomoses may be present close to the margin. Dorsal alitrunk finely irregularly rugulose, predominantly longitudinal on the pronotum; ground-sculpture between the rugulae almost or quite effaced. Dorsal surfaces of petiole and postpetiole unsculptured and smooth, or sometimes the petiole may retain very faint vestiges of punctulae. First gastral tergite unsculptured. All dorsal surfaces of head and body with numerous fine, acute standing hairs, the longest of those on the dorsal alitrunk about equal to the maximum eye diameter. Hind tibiae with short decumbent to appressed pubescence. Colour uniform blackish brown to black, the appendages lighter.

Type Material
Bolton (1980) - Syntype workers, CAMEROUN (Brauns) [examined].

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 3: 5-16.
 * Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 3: 5-16.
 * Bernard F. 1953. La réserve naturelle intégrale du Mt Nimba. XI. Hyménoptères Formicidae. Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire 19: 165-270.
 * 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.
 * Lévieux J. 1972. Les fourmis de la savane de Lamto (Côte d'Ivoire): éléments de taxonomie. Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire. Série A. Sciences Naturelles 34: 611-654.