Tetramorium camerunense

Bolton, B., 1979, The ant tribe Tetramoriini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The genus Tetramorium Mayr in the Malagasy region and in the New World., Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 38, pp. 129-181 : 172

The camerunense -group

Antennae with 12 segments. Sting appendage dentiform to pennant-shaped. Mandibles usually smooth but delicately striate in some species. Anterior clypeal margin with a small median notch or impression. Frontal carinae reaching back almost to occiput but not strongly developed. Antennal scrobes feebly developed. Head in full-face view not rectangular, usually with sides slightly but evenly convex and narrowing in front of the eyes. Propodeum strongly bispinose. All dorsal surfaces with numerous long, standing hairs, but scapes and hind tibiae only with short decumbent or appressed pubescence. Petiole nodiform in profile. Sculpture of dorsum of head of fine, longitudinal, roughly parallel rugulae, without a coarse rugoreticulum.

The camerunense-group is based upon West and Central Africa, where about 13 species are known. One species of the group, lucayanum , was described from the Bahamas and Brown (1957) voiced the opinion that the species was probably of African origin. Later Brown (1964 a) proved this to be the case when he found specimens from the Ivory Coast, Liberia and Zaire (type of waelbroeki ) which matched up with material of lucayanum from Jamaica.

At present the known New World distribution includes Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Virgin Islands and Bahamas (type-locality) as recorded by Brown (1964 a); and in Africa it occurs in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Fernando Po I. and Zaire.