Camponotus boivini

The distribution of C. boivini is generally limited to western and the high plateau of Madagascar (Fig. 47D). This species occurs mostly in dry forest habitats in the north through spiny forest areas in the south. Along its north-south range it can be found in gallery forests, disjunct montane rainforest, Uapaca woodlands, and savannah grasslands. When nesting in rotten logs, rotting tree stumps, under stones, in dead branches, twigs on the ground, and in the soil, C. boivini typically forages in leaf litter and seldom on the forest floor and low vegetation.

Identification
Lateral cephalic margins approximately parallel in full-face view; two apical teeth of mandible normally spaced; antennal scape covered with suberect hairs inclined at ca. 45°; in lateral view, posterior 1/2 of mesonotum to posterodorsal corner of propodeum somewhat convex, propodeal dorsum ca. 2 × as long as the height of declivity surface.

Camponotus boivini may be confused with Camponotus cemeryi but the latter is characterized by a short and high mesosoma which shows a strongly convex dorsal outline. Camponotus boivini can be confounded with Camponotus mixtellus but workers of the latter species have an antennal scape covered with suberect hairs inclined at ca. 30°, are generally larger (CS: 1.56±0.13; 1.16–1.83; ML: 2.76±0.16; 3.10–3.45), and are mostly found in the rainforest of the region.

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

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus maculatus r. boivini Forel, 1891b: 34 (w.q.) MADAGASCAR.
 * Forel, 1891b: 213 (m.).
 * Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 86.
 * Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 223.
 * Subspecies of maculatus: Forel, 1891b: 213; Emery, in Dalla Torre, 1893: 241 (footnote); Emery, 1895f: 337; Emery, 1896d: 370 (in list); Forel, 1907d: 92; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 1040.
 * Subspecies of hova: Emery, 1920c: 6; Emery, 1925b: 86; Bolton, 1995b: 89; Dorow, 1996a: 86.
 * Status as species: Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022: 58 (redescription).
 * Senior synonym of Camponotus fairmairei: Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022: 58.
 * fairmairei. Camponotus maculatus st. fairmairei Santschi, 1911e: 130, fig. 3b, e (s.w.) MADAGASCAR.
 * Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 86.
 * Subspecies of maculatus: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 1040.
 * Subspecies of hova: Emery, 1920c: 6; Emery, 1925b: 86; Bolton, 1995b: 98.
 * Junior synonym of boivini: Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022: 58.

Type Material
Camponotus maculatus boivini
 * Syntype workers, queen and male, Madagascar (Sikora) (MHNG); 1 syntype minor worker designated as lectotype, by present designation, AntWeb CASENT0101343 (MHNG) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].
 * Paralectotypes with same data as lectotype but: 1 minor worker CASENT0101349, 2 major workers CASENT0101342, CASENT0101348 and 1 male CASENT0101607 (MHNG) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].

One major worker and one male specimen that are labeled respectively with CASENT0104638 and CASENT0104637 (ZMHB), were collected from Mahajanga, and are labeled with an unpublished name “Camponotus maculatus subsp. hova var. laticollus” by Forel. Rakotonirina & Fisher (2022) identify these two specimens as Camponotus boivini.

Camponotus maculatus fairmairei
 * Syntype workers Madagascar, colony living with larvae of Fulgorids (Fairmaire, 1900) (NHMB); 1 syntype minor worker designated as lectotype, by present designation, AntWeb CASENT0101102 (NHMB) [Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022].

Taxonomic Notes
Santschi (1911a) originally described Camponotus maculatus st. fairmairei without any comparison of the specimens to those of other species, though his description corresponds to the type specimens of C. boivini. The observation of the samples and the distributional data obtained from the recent ant survey in Madagascar combined with this information are sufficiently enough to reasonably synonymize Camponotus maculatus st. fairmairei with C. boivini. (Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2022)