Dorylus mayri Santschi 1912

Dorylus mayri Santschi, 1912 Figs 6 G – I, 7 C, 23 Dorylus (Anomma) mayri Santschi, 1912: 159. Three worker syntype specimens, Cameroon, locality and collector unknown (these were sent by Emery, who had received them from Mayr), NHMB [examined]. Other material examined. Cameroon: • Dja (Lat. 3.62, Long. 13.68, 5 worker samples, I. Deblauwe, CSAC), • Korup (Lat. 5.35, Long. 9.04, 7 worker samples, J. Schäfer, CSAC), • Kom Wum (Lat. 6.42, Long. 10.26, 14 worker samples. C. Fotang, CSAC), Central African Republic: • Bai Hokou (Lat. 2.86, Long. 16.47, 1 worker sample, C. Cipoletta, CSAC). Gabon: • Loango (Lat. - 1.99, Long. 9.65, 4 worker samples, C. Boesch & J. Head, CSAC), • Monts de Cristal (Lat. 0.82, Long. 10.16), 1 worker sample, C. Schöning, CSAC), Ghana: • Kakum (Lat. 5.48, Long. - 1.35, 1 worker sample, W. H. Gotwald Jr. & L. Fisch, CSAC). Guinea: • Bossou (Lat. 8.65, Long. - 11.8,> 30 worker samples, T. Humle, K. Koops, Y. Sugiyama; Kronauer et al. 2007 / 6, NHMD), • Seringbara (Lat. 7.64, Long. - 8.41,> 100 worker samples, K. Koops). Ivory Coast: • Taï National Park (Lat. 5.84, Long. - 7.32,> 20 worker samples, T. Deschner, J. Lapuente, L. Luncz, A. Meier, Y. Möbius, C. Schöning, CASC, SMNG). Liberia: • East Nimba (Lat. 7.43, Long. - 8.57, 14 worker samples, S. Maroccoli & S. Jones, SMNG), • Grebo (Lat. 5.48, Long. - 7.56, 17 worker samples, S. Marrocoli, SMNG), eight other sites in Liberia (from nationwide survey, see Tweh et al. 2014). Nigeria: • Cross River National Park (Lat. 5.58, Long. 8.75, 3 worker samples, M. Moffett & C. Schöning, Republic of Congo: • Goualougo (Lat. 2.66, Long. 16.66, 9 worker samples, D. Morgan & C. Sanz, CSAC). Biology. In the new surveys, the species was found in moist forest habitats extending from Ghana to Liberia (Longitude - 1.35 to - 9.9). Other sampling efforts confirm its presence in areas eastwards towards Central Africa. The species was observed in more detail during fieldwork at Taï National Park, where we observed nesting and swarm raiding behaviour typical for driver ants. The species is regularly consumed by chimpanzees at Bossou, Dja, Goualougo, Seringbara and Taï (Schöning et al. 2008 c; Koops et al. 2015; Sanz et al. 2010). Remarks. The male of this species is unknown. It is possible that it was described under another name but the crucial association between a male form and the name-bearing worker type specimen has not been established. Cohic (1948) described the mouthparts of a D. mayri queen, but no associated workers are depicted in the article so that the specimen’s identity could not be verified. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data support a sister relationship between D. mayri and all other driver ant species (Kronauer et al. 2007). Published as part of Schöning, Caspar, Weniger, Raphael, Gotwald Jr., William, Vilhelmsen, Lars, Boomsma, Jacobus J. & Kronauer, Daniel J. C., 2026, Taxonomy of African driver ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Dorylus nigricans species group) west of the Dahomey Gap, pp. 185-226 in ZooKeys 1290 on pages 185-226, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1290.192534