Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) cognatocompressus Forel

Type locality "Africa" - possibly Egypt (Camponotus rubripes Drury C. cognato-compressus, Forel, 1886f: 143, 150, 151 (footnote); Forel, 1904b: 379 [r. Camponotus maculatus r. cognato-compressus Forel], worker, queen & male; raised to species under name xerxes, Pisarski, 1967: 414); junior synonym xerxes (Camponotus maculatus F., r. Xerxes n. st., Forel, 1904f: 424, worker & queen; Karavaiev, 1910b: 9 [Camponotus maculatus thoracicus var. xerxes Forel, 1904f], soldier and synonymy - wrongly as senior; Forel, 1913d: 434, male, without description) from Iran; all forms described .

Forel's (1886f) description is at ; the specimens were earlier described (under cognatus) in his (1879a) paper - the text is at . Forel's (1904b: 379) report from Iran etc., is at . Forel's (1904f) description of xerxes is at . Karaviev's (1910b) note and description of the male is at .

The overall feature from Forel's several pieces, is of a form that is larger and matt relative to maculatus s.s. Legs and antennae relatively short and slender. The head with very fine coriaceous sculpture, giving a matt appearance; with the gaster often somewhat shiny. The specimens were from Egypt and Tunisia. His (1904f) brief note on xerxes gives that as wholly black, whereas the cognatocompressus from Africa had the alitrunk and even part of the gaster reddish-yellow. In the earlier work (1886f) he noted the soldiers were larger TL ca 15 mm) than any Camponotus maculatus. It does not appear to be known from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Bolton (1995: 93) noted that cognatocompressus (published 31.iii.1904) was the prior name to xerxes (published 23.xii.1904); he listed but appeared to discount the elevation to species by Pisarski (1967).  The latter was accepted by Collingwood (1985: 283) and Collingwood & Agosti (1996: 375) - citing Forel (1904f: 424, with the year wrongly given as 1894); given as a large species, almost wholly dark/black, without any gular hairs. They make no reference to cognatocompressus.

On Camponotus maculatus thoracicus F. var. xerxes For. (1894f), Emery (1908a:195) noted typical "Persien" majors as  mainly black, with legs brown, and funiculus, coxae and tarsi rust-red; TL 14 mm, head 4.3 X 4, scape 3.7 and hind tibia 5.0.

In his synonymic catalogue, Emery (1925b: 99) listed Camponotus compressus (Fabricius) subsp. thoracica (Fabricius) var. xerxes Forel (1904f: 424), with synonyms C. maculatus thoracicus, var. xerxes, Emery (1908a) and C. maculatus cognato-compressus, Forel (1904b: 379).

Pisarski (1967) used Camponotus xerxes Forel, 1904 (citing Camponotus maculatus xerxes Forel, 1904: 379 (i.e. Forel, 1904b) but his text was no more than a record of occurrence in Afghanistan.

In a key, Radchenko (1996: 1201, in Russian) listed C. xerxes Forel (= C. compressus irakensis Menozzi, syn. n.). Menozzi's (1927) description of irakensis is at .

The original Forel note stated the major of the true compressus form Calcutta had the head with consistently more convex sides than the related forms from Africa  The specimen shown below from Egypt has the narrower head and generally lighter reddish colour he gave for cognatocompressus.

BT has received specimens of Camponotus compressus from the Maldives that have led him to separate out forms from the Indian sub-continent and irakensis from the confusion of Mediterranean and North African forms.  The group probably includes C. xerxes perhaps as a junior synonym of C. compressus.

The Camponotus compressus webpage can be seen at http://antbase.org/ants/africa/camponotus/camponotus_compressus/camponotus_compressus.htm

For comparison, Emery's (1893f) description of Camponotus adenensis can be seen on the linked page, with images of specimens from Sinai. Although generally like "compressus", i.e. later revised to cognatocompressus"; this has relatively shorter scapes, SI 0.85; there are no "aiguillons" or short setae on the lower margin of the tibiae; the petiole scale has a rounded upper margin.

Possibly illustrated by Savigny (Audouin, J.-V. 1825-27: Plate 20 Fig 2). See also the composite at the bottom of this page, where the overall proportions even down to eye size are a good match.

Egypt Records - from an unspecified location, possibly "Oasis de Barych", in Forel (1879a).
The photomontage is of specimens from Zaranik, N. Sinai, E 34°26' N 30°39'; 4.v.2003, collected by Mostafa Sharaf; this has CI 89, distinct setae on lower margin of hind tibiae and a sharp summit to the petiole scale. Other images can be seen in the folder at -

Sharaf list, as adenensis - Zaranik (North Sinai), 13.ix.2002 (1); Edfu temple (Aswan), 5.iii.2003 (1); Shalatein, Gebel Elba, 23.i.2000 (2); Abu Ramad, G.Elba, 26.i.2000 (2), Leg. Dr.Hassan H. Fadl (SHC); xerxes - Wadi Sedr (South Sinai), 10.iii.1998 (6) Leg.Dr.M.S.Abdel-Dayem (SHC). Local distribution: Cairo and Sinai (Finzi, 1936).

The photomontage is of a media worker from Egypt; collected at St Katherine's Protectorate, Sinai, 2010, by Amy Shepherd. Other images can be seen in the folder at - .

The photomontage is of a minor worker from St Katherine's Protectorate, Sinai, 2010, by Amy Shepherd.