Camponotus crassus Mayr 1862

Wild, Alexander L., 2007, A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 1622, pp. 1-55 : 47

Camponotus crassus Mayr 1862 .

Camponotus crassus Mayr 1862: 670 . [w syntypes examined, NHMW; Novara, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. Camponotus senex r. crassus Mayr : Forel 1879: 99.

Camponotus vezenyii Forel 1907b: 34 . NEW SYNONYMY. [holotype w examined, MHNG; Asunción, Paraguay (Vezényi)].

Camponotus crassus subsp. vezenyii Forel. Forel 1911b: 291 .

Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) crassus Mayr. Forel 1914a: 270 .

Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) crassus r. vezenyii Mayr. Forel 1914a: 271 .

Camponotus vezeni Forel. Emery 1920a: 260 .

Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) crassus var. picticornis Santschi 1936: 421 . NEW SYNONYMY. Camponotus vezenyii Forel. Kempf 1972: 54 .

Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) crassus var. picticornis Santschi. Kempf 1972: 51 .

Camponotus crassus is the most frequently recorded Camponotus from Paraguay. This ant appears to be found in every terrestrial habitat type with woody vegetation of sufficient diameter to house the arboreal nests in hollow twigs. The coloration of the antennal scapes shows slight variation among collections, from testaceous to dark reddish brown. The amount of pilosity on the mesosomal dorsum also varies somewhat. Forel’s type of C. vezenyii from Asunción is slightly more pilose and has lighter colored scapes than Mayr’s type of C. crassus , but it still falls well within the range of variation observed in Paraguay and is synonymized here.

Santschi (1936) distinguished the variety C. picticornis from C. crassus on the basis of antennal scape color. I was unable to view Santschi’s types of C. picticornis from Loreto, Argentina , but several other series from northern Argentina at NHMB identified by Santschi as C. picticornis are within my conception of C. crassus .