Oecophylla longinoda variety rubriceps (Forel)

Wheeler, W. M., 1922, The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition., Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45, pp. 39-269 : 231

Oecophylla longinoda variety rubriceps (Forel)

Worker black or dark brown, the head dull, blood red, often darker laterally and posteriorly, tips of antennal funiculi and second to fourth tarsal joints pale brownish yellow. Gaster in specimens from some colonies brown, the posterior margins of the segments paler.

Female dark brown, almost black, the gaster very little paler, the bands at the bases of the segments velvety black; tarsi and tips of funiculi pale brown. Wings even darker than in the variety annectens .

Male black; mandibles, legs, and funiculi piceous; wings paler than in the female but darker than in the male annectens .

Described from many specimens from two colonies taken at Stanleyville(Lang and Chapin). The workers of one colony agree closely with Forel's description of the types from the Belgian Congo in having the gaster nearly or quite concolorous with the thorax, and some of the larger specimens are scarcely distinguishable from the variety fusca ; the workers of the other colony have the gaster rather pale brown and, therefore, connect the variety with annectens , which seems to be a more stable form than rubriceps .