Camponotus hirtus

C. hirtus was collected in Konya at 1841 m altitude from a 100 year old Pinus nigra forest patch between barren soil with small shrubs and the mountain alpine zone.

Identification
C. hirtus belongs to the lateralis group because of the red to partly red head, the reddish mesosoma and petiole contrasting with the black gaster, and the presence of the metanotal groove. However, this new species can be distinguished from all other species in this group by the abundant erect hairs on the whole mesosoma and gaster, the expanded basal portion of the scape that projects a basal lobe especially in major workers, and the abundant, erect hairs on scape.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Turkey.

Castes
Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus (Myrmentoma) hirtus Karaman, C. & Aktaç, 2013: 45, fig. 3 (s.w.) TURKEY.
 * Status as species: Borowiec, L. 2014: 33.

Worker
Major. Head 1.04 times longer than wide; lateral sides of head narrowed in front of the eyes; occiput convex behind eyes; scape 0.77 times head length, surpassing occipital corners hardly or only reach occipital corners, base of scape extended and projects a basal lobe; clypeus without carina, anterior and posterior margins with a concave impression medially; mandibles with 5 teeth; eyes situated on posterior half of the head; mesosoma with deep metanotal groove; anterior face of petiole convex, posterior face straight; head slightly reticulate, anterior half of head more sculpturing, shiny; clypeus more or less reticulate, subopaque; mandibles finely sculptured, subopaque; dorsum of pronotum and mesonotum superficially sculptured, shiny; sub-lateral sides of mesonotum and lateral sides of propodeum roughly reticulate and weakly shiny; gaster smooth, shiny; whole head with short and appressed pilosity; genae, lateral sides of head, occipital corners and occiput with erect hairs, or occipital corners at least with subdecumbent pilosity; ventral surface of head with abundant, erect hairs; scape with dense, subdecumbent hairs and with 10 short, erect hairs; whole mesosoma with yellowish, abundant, erect hairs, pronotum with appressed, mesonotum with subdecumbent, propodeum with erect pilosity and hairs; dorsum of petiole with 5–6 long, erect hairs; gaster with appressed pilosity and erect hairs, pilosity as long as distance between them; tibia with dense subdecumbent pilosity, extensor surface of tibia with 1–3 erect hairs. Head reddish to dark brown, mesosoma red with brownish patches, legs brownish red, petiole red, gaster black.

Minor. Head 1.13 times longer than wide, lateral sides of head narrowed in front of the eyes; occiput convex behind eyes; scape almost as long as head length, surpassing occiput by 1/3 of its length, base of scape extending at the base and project a basal lobe; anterior and posterior clypeal margins with a concave impression medially; mandibles with 5 teeth; eyes situated on posterior half of the head; mesosoma with deep metanotal groove, dorsum of propodeum straight or slightly convex; anterior face of petiole convex, posterior face straight; head and clypeus smoothly sculpturing, shiny; mandibles shiny to subopaque; propodeum superficially sculptured, shiny, except roughly reticulate lateral sides; gaster superficially reticulate, shiny; whole head with short, appressed pilosity; genae and lateral sides of head with short, erect hairs; occiput with long, erect hairs; occipital corners bare, only with subdecumbent pilosity; scape with short, dense, appressed pilosity and with 6–10 erect hairs; whole mesosoma with long, erect hairs and short, appressed pilosity as in the major worker; dorsal surface of mesonotum and propodeum with subdecumbent hairs; dorsolateral sides of petiole with long, erect hairs and lateral sides with short, thin, erect hairs; gaster with appressed pilosity and short, erect hairs, pilosity length as long as the distance between them. Head, mesosoma, petiole, and legs red and gaster black.

Type Material
Holotype – worker: Turkey, Konya-Seydisehir-Tarasci Town- Rize Beli, (37°27’N, 31°42’E), 1841 m asl., 04 August 2008: 08/1106 (leg. C. Karaman and K. Kiran) (TU). PARATYPES: 49 workers, from same nest with holotype (Leg. C. Karaman and K. Kiran) (TU); 7 workers, from same locality and same date with holotype, 08/1109b (Leg. C. Karaman and K. Kiran) (TU).

Etymology
This name is derived from the abundant body hairs of the species.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Karaman C., and N. Aktaç. 2013. Descriptions of four new species of Camponotus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a key for the worker caste of the Camponotus of Turkey. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 86(1): 36-56.