Dorylus wilverthi

A sub-Sarahan driver ant.

Identification
A member of the Dorylus nigricans-group.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Cameroun, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Uganda.

Biology
Dorylus wilverthi is a driver ant.

Butler et al. (2018) - Driver ant are a group of nomadic swarm-raiding army ants that are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa (Wilson, 1964; Gotwald, 1995). The group is comprised of approximately nine species (Kronauer et al., 2007; Scheoning, 2008) in the subgenus Anomma. Driver ants are top invertebrate predators with extremely large colonies that can contain more than 10 million workers (Gotwald, 1995). Unlike the queens of most other ants, army ant queens are permanently wingless. Instead of going on a mating flight, new queens mate within their natal nest with approximately 10–30 unrelated males that disperse on the wing. In driver ants, mating probably occurs within a 2- to 3-week period before the new queen assumes regnancy of her colony (Kronauer et al., 2004b; Kronauer & Boomsma, 2007), and the mother queen disperses on foot, taking a portion of the existing workers with her (Gotwald, 1995). Colonies of driver ants are monogynous, and queens are highly multiply mated.

In Kakamega Forest, Kenya this species co-occurs with Dorylus nigricans molestus (Garcia et al., 2009; Peters & Okalo, 2009; Kronauer et al., 2011; Peters et al., 2011). Dorylus wilverthi mainly inhabits intact rainforest habitat (Scheoning et al., 2006; Peters & Okalo, 2009; Peters et al., 2009).

Hybridization
Butler et al. (2018) found this ant and the co-occuring Dorylus nigricans molestus hybridize. Their study of the population genetics of naturally occurring colonies concluded: "hybridization is bidirectional and occurs at equal rates in both species. Hybrid workers make up only 1–2% of the population, and successful interspecific matings represent approximately 2% of all matings in both species. This shows that, although interspecific matings that give rise to worker offspring occur regularly, they are much rarer than intraspecific mating. Finally, we find no evidence of an association between hybridization and genetic caste determination in this population. This means that genetic caste determination is not a necessary outcome of hybridization in ants, even in species where queens mate with multiple males.

Nomenclature

 *  wilverthi. Dorylus (Anomma) wilverthi Emery, 1899e: 459, fig. (w.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. Forel, 1909b: 51 (m.); Raignier & Boven, 1955: 86 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. 1943: 321 (l.). Senior synonym of nomadas: Raignier & Boven, 1955: 93; of nigritarsis: Boven, 1972: 144. See also: Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1984: 268; Raignier & Boven, 1955: 115. [This name frequently misspelled as wilwerthi, for example by Santschi, 1910c: 352.]
 * nigritarsis. Dorylus nigritarsis Strand, 1911: 118 (q.) CAMEROUN. Combination in D. (Anomma): Santschi, 1915c: 248. Junior synonym of nigricans: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 737; of wilverthi: Boven, 1972: 144.
 * nomadas. Dorylus (Anomma) nomadas Santschi, 1935a: 254, fig. 1 (q.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. Junior synonym of wilverthi: Raignier & Boven, 1955: 93.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Borowiec M. L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1–280.
 * Forel A. 1909. Fourmis du Musée de Bruxelles. Fourmis de Benguela récoltées par M. Creighton Wellman, et fourmis du Congo récoltées par MM. Luja, Kohl et Laurent. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 53: 51-73.
 * Forel A. 1913. Formicides du Congo Belge récoltés par MM. Bequaert, Luja, etc. Revue Zoologique Africaine (Brussels). 2: 306-351.
 * Forel A. 1916. Fourmis du Congo et d'autres provenances récoltées par MM. Hermann Kohl, Luja, Mayné, etc. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 24: 397-460.
 * Hita Garcia F., E. Wiesel, G. Fischer. 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: 127-222.
 * Hita Garcia, F., G. Fischer, M.K. Peters, R.R. Snelling and H.W. Wagele. 2009. A preliminary checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Kakamega Forest (Kenya). Journal of East African Natural HIstory 98(2): 147-165.
 * Ross S. R. P. J., F. Hita Garcia, G. Fischer, and M. K. Peters. 2018. Selective logging intensity in an East African rain forest predicts reductions in ant diversity. Biotropica 1-11.
 * Santschi F. 1910. Formicides nouveaux ou peu connus du Congo français. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 78: 349-400.
 * Stitz H. 1910. Westafrikanische Ameisen. I. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 5: 125-151.
 * Stitz H. 1916. Formiciden. Ergebnisse der Zweiten Deutschen Zentral-Afrika Expedition 1: 369-405.
 * Wheeler G. C. 1943. The larvae of the army ants. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 36: 319-332.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 39-269.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004