Carebara elmenteitae

Known from a limited number of specimens from Ivory Coast, Ghana and Kenya. Carebara elmenteitae is one of a small number of species in the diverse genus Carebara that is known to have phragmatic workers (the others being Carebara lilith and Carebara phragmotica.

Identification
A member of the Carebara phragmotica clade.

Fisher et al. (2015) - Phragmotic worker (minor and major worker unknown): Head with strongly defined oval cephalic shield, anterolaterally with lobes covering antennae when in repose, mandibles small, clypeus with straight anterior margin and median carina, and anterolateral clypeal lobes either absent or hidden under cephalic shield lobes. Dorsal face of cephalic shield concave, with irregular rugulae or shallow ridges.

From the drawings phragmotic workers of Carebara elmenteitae can be easily differentiated from those of the Carebara lilith and Carebara phragmotica because of the sculpture inside the cephalic shield: Carebara elmenteitae with irregular rugulae or shallow ridges, Carebara lilith punctate and with cone-shaped, gland-like structures present, and Carebara phragmotica with two subparallel, conspicuously elevated ridges in center of cephalic shield (see also C. lilith and C. phragmotica diagnoses and discussions).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Ivory Coast, Kenya.

Nomenclature

 * . Solenopsis (Crateropsis) elmenteitae Patrizi, 1948: 176, figs. 1, 2 (q.) KENYA.
 * Type-material: holotype phragmotic major worker.
 * [Note: Patrizi, 1948: 176, states that the holotype is a queen (“femmina”), adding “maschio ed operaia ignoti”. The specimen described is actually a phragmotic major worker.]
 * Type-locality: Kenya: (Lake) Elmenteita, 20.xii.1945 (S. Patrizi).
 * Type-depository: IEUB.
 * Combination in Oligomyrmex: Ettershank, 1966: 123;
 * combination in Carebara: Fernández, 2004a: 235.
 * Status as species: Ettershank, 1966: 123; Bolton, 1995b: 299; Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 208; Fischer, et al. 2015: 93 (redescription).
 * Distribution: Kenya.

Type Material
Fisher et al. (2015) - KENYA. Holotype (IEGG) (Lake) Elmenteita, 20.xii.1945 (Patrizi) [not examined].

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Fischer G. F. Azorsa, F. Hita Garcia, A. S. Mikheyev, and E. P. Economo. Two new phragmotic ant species from Africa: morphology and next-generation sequencing solve a caste association problem in the genus Carebara Westwood. Zookeys 525: 77-105.
 * Garcia F.H., Wiesel E. and Fischer G. 2013.The Ants of Kenya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)Faunal Overview, First Species Checklist, Bibliography, Accounts for All Genera, and Discussion on Taxonomy and Zoogeography. Journal of East African Natural History, 101(2): 127-222
 * Kone M., S. Konate, K. Yeo, P. K. Kouassi, and K. E. Linsenmair. 2012. Changes in ant communities along an age gradient of cocoa cultivation in the Oumé region, central Côte dIvoire. Entomological Science 15: 324339.
 * Patrizi S. 1948. Contribuzioni alla conoscenza delle formiche e dei mirmecofili dell'Africa orientale. VI. Crateropsis elmenteitae nuovo sottogenere aberrante di Solenopsis Westw. (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Bollettino dell'Istituto di Entomologia della Università degli Studi di Bologna 17: 174-176.
 * Yeo K., L. M. M. Kouakou, W. Dekoninck, K. Ouattara, and S. Konate. 2016. Detecting intruders: assessment of the anthropophilic ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the city of Abidjan and along access roads in Banco National Park (Côte d’Ivoire). Journal of Entomology and Zoological Studies 4(4): 351-359.
 * Yeo K., T. Delsinne, S. Komate, L. L. Alonso, D. Aidara, and C. Peeters. 2016. Diversity and distribution of ant assemblages above and below ground in a West African forest–savannah mosaic (Lamto, Cote d’Ivoire). Insectes Sociaux DOI 10.1007/s00040-016-0527-6