1982] 
Wheeler & Wheeler — Ant larvae 
179 
of Camponotus of the subgenus Colobopsis. In all the species of the 
latter subgenus examined the larva is very hypocephalic and the 
ventral portion of the first abdominal segment projects considerably 
beyond the thoracic segments and presents a pronounced concavity 
or basin in the mid-ventral region precisely in the position of the 
trophothylax of the Pseudomyrminae. A feeble vestige occurs in 
many Camponotus larvae belonging to other subgenera. No solid 
pellet is deposited in the basin of Colobopsis, but it may, perhaps, 
be used to hold a supply of the liquid food regurgitated by the 
workers or of the saliva secreted by the larva itself for the benefit of 
its attendants.” We later found pellets in the praesaepium of Colo- 
bopsis (1970:650). 
Genus CAMPONOTUS Mayr 
Camponotus rasilis W. M. Wheeler 
Petralia and Vinson 1979. Venter — description and SEM. 
Genus COLOBOPSIS Mayr 
Colobopsis was established by Mayr in 1861 as a genus. In 1889 
Emery “reduced it to a subgenus under Camponotus, owing to the 
existence of forms intermediate between these two groups and the 
relatively unimportant distinguishing characters of Colobopsis ” (W. 
M. Wheeler 1904:139). And there it has remained through W. M. 
Wheeler’s “Key to the Genera and Subgenera of Ants” (1922), 
Emery’s “Genera Insectorum” (1925), Creighton’s “The Ants of 
North America” (1950). Brown (1973:179) did not employ subgen- 
era; so he had to synonymize it with Camponotus or raise it to 
generic rank; he chose the former. 
However, we have noticed of late a tendency among myrmecolo- 
gists to elevate Colobopsis to generic rank (e.g., Snelling 1981:404). 
Although we have some doubts about adult characters, we can cer- 
tainly support the elevation by larval characters. In 1953:181 we 
wrote: “The genera of this tribe are so similar that we cannot distin- 
guish them; hence we have not attempted to key them. Colobopsis 
is, however, exceptional; differences of generic magnitude separate 
it not only from the other subgenera of Camponotus but also from 
the other genera of Camponotini.” 
