Camponotus weissflogi

A Weaver Ant that uses silk in its nest construction.

Identification
A member of the subgenus Karavaievia. This group of Camponotus species is known for their monomorphic workers and their nest weaving behavior.

Dumpert et al. (2006) - worker Weakly polymorphic (TL 4.6 ± 0.4). Light yellowish brown and shiny. Preoccipital margin strongly concave. Head only slightly wider than long.

The light yellowish color of C. weissflogi is similar to the color of Camponotus aureus, Camponotus micragyne, Camponotus belumensis, and Camponotus asli. Unlike as in C. aureus, C. micragyne, C. belumensis, and C. asli, the preoccipital margin is not straight or slightly concave, but strongly concave like the upper part of a heart.

queen Frontal area slightly wider than high and poorly delimited. Head pale yellowish brown, mesosoma, legs, and gaster darker (at least partly). Whole body shiny. Preoccipital margin strongly concave; petiolar scale broadly rounded while seen from front or behind. The posterior clypeal margin of C. weissflogi is medially excised. This is also the case in C. asli. Both species differ, however, in their color, which is uniformly reddish brown in C. asli, but yellowish brown on head, and darker on mesosoma, legs, and gaster in C. weissflogi.

male Head as long as wide. Clypeus wider than long (0.35 × 0.2 mm). Front head lighter than the rest of body. Scutellum dark brown and shiny. The head of C. weissflogi is as wide as long. This is also the case in Camponotus gentingensis and Camponotus texens. Unlike in C. gentingensis and C. texens, the front part of C. weissflogi is distinctly lighter than the rest of the head.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Malaysia.

Biology
Dumpert et al. (2006) - The colony of C. weissflogi was found in West Malaysia in the Sungai Tekala Park (Selangor, Negeri Sembilan). The approximately 200 pavilions of this species were evenly distributed on three adjacent trees at heights of 2 - 10 m. Of the pavilions, 136 (68 %) were located between living leaves, held together by a flexible silken wall with approximately 1 cm distance to the leaf margin. They were oval shaped (12 × 8 cm) and roughly resembled the size and form of the leaves. The remaining pavilions were built on the undersides of leaves and attached to the midrib (length 5 - 12 cm, width 3 - 5 cm). All pavilions showed only a single entrance hole. The use of larval silk as building material was restricted to the outer nest walls; besides silk the ants used wooden particles and (rarely) insect remains (e.g., cuticles) for nest construction. The inner nesting space was never subdivided by additional walls and neither the floor nor roof was covered with silk. The nests were inhabited by some thousand workers, different stages of brood and many sexuals. Trophobiotic coccids were located inside all pavilions. In the near vicinity (5 m) of the C. weissflogi colony two independent colonies of Monomorium were located on single trees in 2 - 3 m height and containing about 20 carton nest pavilions (Weissflog 2001).

General details about the biology of species in this subgenus can be found on the Karavaievia webpage.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus (Karavaievia) weissflogi Dumpert, in Dumpert, Maschwitz & Weissflog, 2006: 75, figs. 16 – 22 (w.q.m.) WEST MALAYSIA.

Worker
Holotype: TL 4.55, HW 1.70, HL 1.62, CI 104.9, OD 0.36, SL 1.37, SI 80.58, PW 01.05. Paratypes (n = 14): TL 4.6 ± 0.4, HW 1.32 ± 0.06, HL 1.26 ± 0.08, CI 103.8 ± 4.2, OD 0.35 ± 0.01, SL 1.35 ± 0.11, SI 102.5 ± 4.5, PW 0.81 ± 0.02.

Head trapezoidal with rounded posterolateral corners; preoccipital margin strongly concave in full face view. Head sides rounded. Head slightly wider than long (CI 103.8 ± 4.2). Eyes situated behind midlength of head sides, diameter 0.36 mm (0.21 × HW). Frontal carinae nearly straight with slight projection behind antennal insertion. Carinae slightly divergent and extend to less than midlength of head. Frontal area clearly delimited, anterior clypeal margin slightly concave. Mandibles short, with lateral borders strongly curved and five subequal teeth on each masticatory border. Antennal scapes projecting beyond preoccipital margin by about one third of length. Pedicel longer than following flagellar segment; apical flagellar segments slightly thickened.

Mesosoma with deep metanotal groove, with two elevated spiracles at deepest point of groove. Promesonotum, seen in profile, broadly rounded and not as high as propodeum. Propodeal profile rounded on top; dorsal and descending parts straight, descending part steeper than dorsal one. Petiolar scale triangular in profile, with broad base tapering to a crest. Crest pointed when seen from front or behind.

Color of mesosoma and legs uniformly light yellowish brown. Surface of head, mesosoma, and gaster shiny. Decumbent pubescence on all body parts. Additional longer erect and suberect yellowish white hairs on all parts of body.

Queen
Paratypes (n = 5): TL 9,34 ± 0.23, HW 2.13 ± 0.01, HL 2.16 ± 0.08, CI 98.6 ± 2.9, OD 0.68 ± 0.02, SL 1.91 ± 0.04, SI 89.2 ± 1.56, PW 1.65 ± 0.03.

Head on average slightly longer than wide (CI 98.6 ± 2.9); sides of head nearly straight. Preoccipital margin strongly concave, posterolateral corners broadly rounded. Eyes situated behind midlength of sides of head. Frontal carinae extend to about midlength of head. Carinae almost straight and slightly divergent. Anterior clypeal margin with semicircular excision. Frontal area wider than high, relatively small and shiny, but not clearly delimited from shiny rest of head. Mandibles strong, rounded on outside, and with 5 subequal black teeth on inside. Petiolar profile with broad base tapering to transverse crest. Petiolar crest broadly rounded when seen from front or behind.

Head pale yellowish brown, mesosoma, legs, and gaster darker (at least partly). Head and body shiny. Decumbent pubescence and additional longer erect and suberect light hairs on all body parts.

Male
Paratype (n = 1): TL 5.3, HW 0.97, HL 0.97, CI 100, OD 0.42, SL 0.93, SI 104.3, PW 1.14.

Head trapezoidal and as long as wide (CI 100); preoccipital margin strongly convex with protruding ocelli and prominent convex eyes, extending to upper end of head sides. Anterior clypeal margin straight. Frontal carinae short and sinuate, reaching back to about midlength of head. Maximum diameter of eyes 0.42 mm and less than half head width. Scapes long, projecting beyond preoccipital margin of head by about half of length. Pedicel expanded at its distal end and thicker than following flagellar segments. Propodeal profile rounded with convex dorsal and weakly convex descending part. Petiolar scale triangular in profile, with broad base tapering to a crest. Crest with deep median excision.

Color uniformly dark yellowish brown, front head lighter, scutellum, legs and parts of gaster dark brown. Except shiny scutellum and slightly shiny gaster, cuticle more or less opaque. Decumbent pubescence and additional longer erect and suberect hairs on whole body.

Type Material
Holotype worker : W Malaysia, Sungei Tekala Park, 13.V.1995, leg. A. Weissflog. Paratypes with the same data as holotype, 14 workers (2, 2 , 2 , 3 , 5 CKD), 5 queens (1 MCZ, 1 FRIM, 1 MCSN, 1 SMNK, 1 CKD), 1 male (NHMB).

Etymology
The name is derived from Andreas Weissflog, who was the first to find a colony of this species.