Tetramorium akermani

This species has been sampled in pitfall traps and hand-collected as ground-foragers from a range of habitats, e.g., grassland, fynbos, and Afromontane forest. A few collections were from nests, with one having an entrance at the base of a grass tuft.

Identification
Bolton (1980) - Tetramorium akermani is the only known species of the sguaminode-complex of this group to possess long, soft, acute hairs on the dorsal surfaces of the body. All other species in the complex have the main pilosity stout and have most or all of the hairs blunt or truncated apically.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: South Africa.

Nomenclature

 *  akermani. Tetramorium akermani Arnold, 1926: 265, fig. 73 (w.) SOUTH AFRICA. Senior synonym of myersi: Bolton, 1980: 253.
 * myersi. Tetramorium akermani var. myersi Arnold, 1958: 123 (w.) SOUTH AFRICA. Junior synonym of akermani: Bolton, 1980: 253.

Worker
Bolton (1980) - TL 3.7-4.0, HL 0.88-0.94, HW 0.82-0.88, CI 91-94, SL 0.64-0.68, SI 76-78, PW 0.60-0.66, AL 0.98-1.08 (16 measured). Mandibles usually smooth and shining but rarely with very faint traces of striation in the apical third. Anterior clypeal margin with a median notch or impression. Frontal carinae long and sinuate, reaching back almost to the occipital margin where they merge with the remaining cephalic sculpture. Antennal scrobes shallow but distinctive. Maximum diameter of eyes 0.20-0.21, about 0.23-0.24 x HW. Metanotal groove usually not indicated in profile but in a few workers a very shallow and feeble impression is present. Propodeal spines elongate and strong, metapleural lobes low and triangular. Petiole squamiform, much higher than long in profile and bluntly rounded dorsally; in dorsal view much broader than long but slightly narrower than the postpetiole which is also distinctly broader than long. Postpetiole in profile lower than petiole and broadly rounded, the sternal portion not produced into a freely projecting lobe on each side. Dorsum of head irregularly but quite densely longitudinally rugulose, with a narrow reticulum occipitally. Dorsal alitrunk also irregularly and predominantly longitudinally rugulose, but commonly with reticular meshes on the anterior half of the pronotum, more rarely also with reticulation elsewhere. Petiole and postpetiole usually smooth, but quite commonly the postpetiole with vestiges of rugular sculpture. Gaster unsculptured. All dorsal surfaces of head and body densely clothed with elongate, fine, soft acute hairs. Posterior tibiae with fine pubescence which is usually subdecumbent. Colour dark brown to blackish brown, usually with the gaster darker in shade.

Type Material
Bolton (1980) - Syntype workers, SOUTH AFRICA: Pietermaritzburg, 13.viii.1917 (C. Akerman) [examined]. ''Tetramorium akermani var. myersi'' Syntype workers, SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Prov., Sundays Riv. Valley, x.1955 (N. J. Myers) (BMNH, ) [examined].

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Arnold G. 1926. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Appendix. Annals of the South African Museum. 23: 191-295.
 * Arnold G. 1958. New species of African Hymenoptera. No. 13. Occasional Papers of the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia. B. Natural Sciences. 3: 119-143.
 * 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.
 * IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
 * Willis C. K., J. D. Skinner, and H. G. Robertson. 1992. Abundance of ants and termites in the False Karoo and their importance in the diet of the aardvark Orycteropus afer. Afr. J. Ecol. 30: 322-334.