- N'est qu'une [[ worker ]] minor d'une race du maculatus assez semblable aux C. aethiops , et aussi au C. compressus [[ worker ]] minor. Difference d'avec le C. aethiops : Metanotum plus etroit, a face basale plus convexe longitudinalement. Sculpture de tout le corps plus forte, mate, reticulee-ridee. Carene de l'epistome moins marquee. Lobe a cotes un peu convergents. Ecaille arrondie en haut; bord posterieur des segments abdominaux jaunatre. Pattes et scapes arrondis, non aplatis. Pilosite dressee presque nulle; joues sans poils. Long. 5 1 / 2 a 6 mill. Kilimandscharo a 8,000 pieds de hauteur. (D'apres le type.)
Ouvriere et femelle. - Je limite ce sous-genre aux grandes especes ayant l'epistome non carene ou avec une carene peu apparente, sans lobe anterieur ou avec un lobe peu avance, plus ou moins rectangulaire ( japonicus ) ou arrondi ( sansabeanus ): son bord anterieur n'est pas incise au milieu. Tete de la grande [[ worker ]] et de la [[ queen ]] non tronquee ou obtuse devant; peu plus large derriere que devant. Mandibules fortement arquees, a quatre ou cinq, quelquefois six dents. Dos du corselet arque, continu sur le profil; dos du pronotum arrondi ou parfois deprime chez les grandes [[ worker ]], avec les epaules legerement saillantes.
Les C. ocreatus et sansabeanus relient ce sous-genre au suivant.
Nids generalement dans le bois. Habite la region holarctique, surtout l'Amerique du Nord, d'ou je pense que le groupe est originaire. Une espece de Madagascar est probablement d'une tout autre origine.
Type-species: Formica ligniperda Latreille , 1802, Fourmis: 88, by designation of Bingham, 1903.
Distribution: Palaearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, Australian, Polynesian, Nearctic & Neotropical regions.
Key to species
1- First gastral tergite with basal two thirds paler than the rest; petiole dorsum steeply rounded (Fig. 12) ... Campontus oasium Forel
- Gaster completely dark or with small yellowish batch at base only; petiole dorsum widely rounded to flat (Fig. 13)... Campontus thoracicus (Fabricius)
Boquerón (ALWC).
Boquerón , Pte. Hayes (ALWC).
Canindeyú (ALWC).
Boquerón (ALWC).
Canindeyú (ALWC).
Pte. Hayes (ALWC).
Canindeyú (ALWC).
Caaguazú , Canindeyú , Central, Ñeembucú (ALWC, IFML, INBP).
Boquerón , Pte. Hayes (ALWC).
Worker. HW 1.1 - 1.4; HL 1.3 - 1.6; PW 0.9 - 1.2. Major worker not yet described. Minor worker. Black head contrasting with red mesonotum; propodeum with more than 10 erect setae scattered; pronotum and mesonotum evenly convex; metanotum indistinct; propodeum concave anteriorly, flat posteriorly, angle rounded, PD / D about 1.5; anterior clypeal margin evenly convex, carina conspicuous; dorsal and under surfaces of head, mesosoma, petiole, gaster and coxa with sparse long erect setae; entire body with short indistinct flat-lying short setae; tibiae and scapes lacking erect setae.
Worker. HW 1.40; HL 1.58. Major worker not yet described. Minor worker. Head, mesosoma and node red with upper surfaces of head, pronotum and sometimes mesonotum with blotches of darker color; propodeum with at most 4 elongate erect setae near angle; anterior propodeal dorsum feebly concave, posterior straight; node summit broadly rounded; head sides nearly parallel; vertex rounded; anterior clypeal margin feebly projecting, broadly convex; long setae scattered on all surfaces, absent from scapes and tibiae; glossy.
Worker. HW 1.6 - 2.0; HL 2.0 - 2.4; PW 1.4 - 1.60. Major worker not yet described. Minor worker. Entirely black; propodeum with a wide concavity and a posterior hump; metanotal groove depressed below level of anterior region of propodeum; node summit long and flat, its anterior face much shorter than posterior; setae on tibiae raised to 20°, none visible on scapes, otherwise overall plentiful white flat-lying, with a few erect; anterior clypeal margin projecting bounded by rounded angles.
Worker. HW 1.5 - 1.8; HL 1.9 - 2.2. Major worker not yet described. Minor worker. Pronotum anterior regions dark red to black, distinctly darker than mesonotum and propodeum; metanotal groove depressed below level of anterior region of propodeum; node anterior face much shorter than posterior face; tibiae and scapes lacking erect setae; anterior clypeal margin broadly convex; propodeum lacking a distinct angle, PD / D about 1.5; node summit broadly convex; erect setae on all surfaces of head and mesosoma, node and gaster, absent from scapes and tibiae.
Worker. HW 1.2 - 1.8; HL 1.9 - 2.3; PW 1.4 - 1.55. Major worker not yet described. Minor worker. Purplish, tending iridescent; unique head, pronotum attached well below vertex, resembling Iridomyrmex purpureus in attachment; propodeal dorsum concave; a few scattered erect setae, none under head, on tibiae nor on scapes; head sides straight, tapering forward; vertex nearly semicircular; anterior clypeal margin projecting, convex; color mostly red-brown with gaster darker.
Species of Camponotus (carpenter ants) are found in almost all terrestrial habitats of California, and include both ground-nesting and arboreal species. The workers are generalist scavengers and predators, and are most active at dusk and at night. Identification of the California species can be difficult. The keys cited below do not cover all of the species in this state, several of which are undescribed. The images on AntWeb provide additional assistance in identification. See also the description of Camponotus maritimus above (under “Taxonomic Changes”).
Species identification: keys in Wheeler and Wheeler (1986g) and Mackay and Mackay (2002). Additional references: Brady et al. (2000), Chen et al., (2002), Creighton and Snelling (1967), Degnan et al. (2004), Gadau et al. (1999), Hansen and Akre (1985), MacArthur(2005), Sameshima et al. (1999), Sauer et al. (2000), Smith (1979), Snelling (1968b, 1970, 1988).
E2 [endemic to California floristic province (Hickman, 1993)]
E2 [endemic to California floristic province (Hickman, 1993)]
Worker medium-sized to very large, potymorphic, rarely dimorphic, the worker maxima having a large, broad head, the minima a much smaller head and more slender body, the media being intermediate in structure. Head differing considerably in form in different species, usually broad and more or less excised behind, narrower in front, very convex above and flattened beneath. Mandibles powerful, short, triangular, with coarse teeth on their broad apical borders; external border and upper surface convex in large individuals. Palpi moderately long, the maxillary pair 6-, the labial pair 4-jointed. Clypeus large, trapezoidal or subrectangular, usually carinate or subcarinate, often divided into a large, median, subhexagonal and two small, triangular, lateral divisions, which do not reach the lateral border of the cheeks, the anterior border entire or emarginate, often excised on each side, with a broad, more or less projecting median lobe. Frontal area small, triangular or lozenge-shaped; frontal groove distinct; frontal carinae long, prominent, marginate, and sinuate or S-shaped, rising from the posterior border of the clypeus. Eyes moderately large, broadly elliptical, not very prominent, situated behind the middle of the head; ocelli absent, the anterior ocellus sometimes indicated. Antennae 12-jointed; scapes sometimes thickened distally, inserted some distance behind the posterior border of the clypeus; funiculi long, filiform, not enlarged at their tips, all the joints longer than broad. Thorax differing greatly in shape in the various species, typically broadly and more or less evenly arcuate in profile, broad in front, laterally compressed behind, the epinotum usually simple and unarmed. Rarely the mesonotum is impressed or sellate. Petiole surmounted by an erect scale, the upper border of which may be blunt or anteroposteriorly compressed, entire, subacuminate or more or less emarginate. Gaster rather large, broadly elliptical, its first segment forming less than half its surface. Legs long and well developed. Gizzard with a long slender calyx, the sepals of which are not reflected at their anterior ends.
Female larger than the worker maxima but usually with smaller head. The latter and the petiole much as in the worker. Ocelli present. Thorax elongate elliptical; pronotum short, its posterior margin arched, its posterior angles reaching back to the insertions of the wings, mesonotum and scutellum long, convex; metanotum depressed below the scutellum. Gaster elongate elliptical, massive. Wings long and ample, the anterior pair with a radial, one cubital, and no discoidal cell.
Male small and slender; head small, with very prominent eyes and ocelli. Mandibles small and narrow. Antennae 13-jointed, slender, scapes long. Petiolar node thick and blunt; gaster elongate, with small slender genital appendages. Legs very slender. Wing venation as in the female.
Pupae nearly always enclosed in cocoons.
This huge cosmopolitan genus, comprising more than 1000 described forms, has become so unmanageable that Forel and Emery have recently split it up into some thirty-six subgenera. The frequent occurrence of species of Camponotus in all countries, except Great Britain and New Zealand, and the extraordinary variability of many of the species in response to slight differences of environment make the genus one of considerable interest to the student of geographical distribution. In the Ethiopian Region, it is represented by numerous species assignable to no less than eleven of the thirty-six subgenera recognized by Emery and myself, namely, Myrmoturba , Dinomyrmex (Map 41), Myrmosericus , Myrmothrix (one species, probably introduced). Orthonotomyrmex , Myrmotrema (Map 38), Myrmopiromis , Myrmorhachis , Myrmopsamma , Myrmamblys , and Colobopsis , and species of six others, Camponotus , sensu stricto, Myrmosaulus , Myrmosaga , Mayria , Myrmonesites , and Myrmopytia , occur in f lie Malagasy Region. A few of these subgenera, Myrmopsamma and Myrmopiromis , are peculiarly African, while others, Myrmosaga , Mayria , Myrmonesites , and Myrmopytia , are only found in Madagascar. The development of the subgenus Myrmoturba and especially of the species maculatus (Fabricius) , the typical form of which is West African, is extraordinary, as will be seen by consulting the catalogue(Part VIII). C. (Myrmoturba) maculatus (Map 39) and two other species, C. (Myrmosericus) rufoglaucus (Map 42) and C. (Orthonotomyrmex) sericeus (Map 43), have a singular distribution. Forms of maculatus occur in all the continents; rufoglaucus , with many varieties, ranges from southern China across India and equatorial and South Africa to the Gulf of Guinea; and sericeus occupies a similar range, though showing little tendency to produce subspecies and varieties.
The species of Camponotus often form very populous colonies and exhibit a great diversity of nesting habits. Many live in the ground, either under stones or in crater nests, others under bark, in dead wood, hollow twigs, and galls, and a few construct carton nests or employ their larvae, after the manner of Oecophylla , in spinning together particles of vegetable detritus with silk ( C. senex and formiciformis ). The food ofthe various species consists of miscellaneous insects, the excreta of aphids (honeydew), and nectar. Many of the smaller forms are stolid, apathetic, or timid, but the maxima workers of the large species belonging to the subgenera Dinomyrmex , Myrmoturba , Myrmothrix , and Myrmopiromis are very pugnacious and capable of inflicting painful wounds with their powerful mandibles.
- [[ worker ]]. - Long. 7 a 9,5 mill. - Taille, aspect et stature du nossibeensis Andre. Mais conformation du Darwinii rubropilosus . La face basale du metanotum est presque deux fois plus longue que large (plus large que longue chez le nossibeensis ). Pilosite de l'abdomen moins dense que chez le type du rubropilosus .
Madagascar; ma collection.
Je reunis dans ce sous-genre des especes, toutes de Madagascar, que Forel repartit dans trois de ses sous-genres, a cause de la forme du profil du corselet des ouvrieres, mais qui me paraissent constituer un ensemble naturel. Je connais les [[ male ]] de deux especes que Forel place dans des sous-genres differents: C. quadrimaculatus , type du sous-genre Myrmosaga et C. gibber qui est classe parmi les Myrmosphincta . Tous deux ont une forme de tete que je ne retrouve chez aucune autre espece, avec les ocelles places sur une bosse du vertex, comme chez les [[ male ]] de la plupart des Pheidole . Je pense que c'est une preuve suffisante de la parente des susdites especes.
La tete de la grande ouvriere est large et echancree derriere; celle de la petite est tronquee derriere avec les angles posterieurs arrondis et les cotes paralleles. L'epistome a generalement un lobe court, arrondi ou parfois tronque, les parties laterales ordinairement bien distinctes. Le profil du corselet presente dans les differentes especes les trois memes conditions que dans le sous-genre Myrmophyma . Le pronotum n'est jamais margine. L'ecaille est plus ou moins epaisse. Le tegument est toujours luisant et la sculpture fine.
dont l'ouvriere differe de tous ses congeneres par le pronotum pourvu d'epaules dentiformes, la crete mediane du mesonotum et de l'epinotum et les tarses tres comprimes. Amerique tropicale.
Ouvriere. - Pas de dimorphisme; taille peu variable. Tete rectangulaire avec les angles posterieurs arrondis. Epistome plat, sans carene et sans lobe¡ largement entaille au milieu de son bord anterieur. Corselet a dos plat, obtusement borde: pronotum a epaules anguleuses; metanotum limite par des sutures devant et derriere sur le dos, ses stigmates situes au-dessous du bord qui limite sa face dorsale; suture meso-metanotale enfoncee; epinotum tronque en arriere. Ecaille tres epaisse, anguleuse sur les cotes de son bord dorsal.
Femelle. - Tete comme chez l'ouvriere. Corselet deprime: vu par-dessus, le pronotum est presque aussi long que le disque du mesonotum; celui-ci n'est que tres peu proeminent sur le pronotum, et le scutellum ne l'est pas du tout sur le postscutellum et l'epinotum. Ailes comme chez Camponotus .
Male inconnu.
Une seule espece: Camponotus Buchneri For.
Ouvriere et femelle. - Epistome carene, pourvu a son bord anterieur d'un lobe tres prononce, ordinairement rectangulaire, rarement d'autre forme. Tete des grandes [[ worker ]] en general notablement plus large derriere que devant, souvent echancree a son bord posterieur; celle des petites [[ worker ]] avec les bords lateraux paralleles ou retrecie en arriere, de sorte que le bord posterieur est fort reduit. Mandibules generalement a six ou sept dents. Dos du corselet arque comme dans le sous-genre precedent; rarement le profil de l'epinotum est legerement deprime en forme de selle. Sculpture variable; chez quelques especes de l'Amerique meridionale (ex. C. chilensis ) le gastre est couvert d'une pubescence copieuse formant pelisse.
Nids generalement dans la terre ou sous les pierres. Dans tous les continents et dans beaucoup d'iles. Transitions multiples, notamment a Camponotus , Myrmamblys , Myrmotemnus , Myrmophyma , Dinomyrmex , Myrmothrix et Myrmosericus .
Ein von Dr. Roger mir gesandter Arbeiter zeigt folgende Abweichungen von obiger Beschreibung: Geissel rothgelb, jedes Glied mehr oder weniger angeraucht; Hinterleib oben schwarzbraun, vorne mit roethlichem Stiche; oberer Rand der Schuppe bogenfoermig.
Ein Arbeiter, welcher sich von den Madagascarstuecken nur durch die braunschwarzen Beine mit helleren Tarsen unterscheidet, auf der Insel Mozambique von Dr. Brauns gesammelt.
Wenn auch C. Grandidieri For. und C. foraminosus For. so sehr miteinander uebereinstimmen, dass Freund Forel beide Formen in eine Art vereinigte, so moechte ich doch auf den vollkommen haarlosen, durchlaufenden, gleich breiten, wenn auch schmalen Mittellaengsstreifen an der Oberseite des Hinterleibes bei C. Grandidieri Gewicht legen und Grandidieri und foraminosus als eigene Arten betrachten, weil dieses Merkmal sogar beim Maennchen von Grandidieri in ausgezeichneter Art vorkommt und gewiss auch beim Weibchen nicht fehlen duerfte.
Im Berliner Museum sind ein grosser und ein kleiner Arbeiter vom Cap der guten Hoffnung, welche der Subspecies auropubens For ,, die ich zu C. Grandidieri stelle, sehr aehnlich sind, sich aber dadurch unterscheiden, dass beim grossen Arbeiter nur die Wangen und die Seiten des Kopfes mit spaerlicheren, seichteren und kleineren groben Punkten besetzt sind, dass die Koerpergroesse eine etwas geringere ist und die grobe hellmessinggelbe Pubescenz an der Oberseite des Abdomen vielleicht noch reichlicher ist.
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) are large (0.3 to 1 in or 8 to 25 mm) ants indigenous to many forested parts of the world.[2]
They build nests inside wood consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles or jaws, preferably in dead, damp wood. However, unlike termites, they do not consume wood,[3] discarding a material that resembles sawdust outside their nest. Sometimes, carpenter ants hollow out sections of trees. They also commonly infest wooden buildings and structures, and are a widespread problem and major cause of structural damage. Nevertheless, their ability to excavate wood helps in forest decomposition. The genus includes over 1,000 species.[4] They also farm aphids. In their farming, the ants protect the aphids from predators (usually other insects) while they excrete a sugary fluid called honeydew, which the ants get by stroking the aphids with their antennae.
Camponotus are generally large ants, with workers being 4-7 mm long in small species or 7-13 mm in large species, queens being 9-20 mm long and males being 5-13 mm long. The bases of the antennae are separated from the clypeal border by a distance of at least the antennal scape's maximum diameter. The mesosoma in profile usually forms a continuous curve from the pronotum through to the propodeum.[5][6]
Carpenter ant species reside both outdoors and indoors in moist, decaying, or hollow wood, most commonly in forest environments. They cut "galleries" into the wood grain to provide passageways to allow for movement between different sections of the nest. Certain parts of a house, such as around and under windows, roof eaves, decks and porches, are more likely to be infested by carpenter ants because these areas are most vulnerable to moisture.
Carpenter ants have been known to construct extensive underground tunneling systems. These systems often lead to an end at some food source – often aphid colonies, where the ants extract and feed on honeydew. These tunneling systems also often exist in trees. The colonies typically include a central "parent" colony surrounded and supplemented by smaller satellite colonies.[7]
Carpenter ants are considered both predators and scavengers. These ants are foragers that typically eat parts of other dead insects or substances derived from other insects. Common foods for them include insect parts, "honeydew" produced by aphids, or extrafloral nectar from plants. They are also known for eating other sugary liquids such as honey, syrup, or juices. Carpenter ants can increase the survivability of aphids when they tend them. They tend many aphid species but can also express preference for specific ones.
Most species of carpenter ants forage at night. When foraging, they usually collect and consume dead insects. Some species less commonly collect live insects. When they discover a dead insect, workers surround it and extract its bodily fluids to be carried back to the nest. The remaining chitin-based shell is left behind. Occasionally, the ants bring the chitinous head of the insect back to the nest, where they also extract its inner tissue.[8] The ants can forage individually or in small or large groups, though they often opt to do so individually. Different colonies in close proximity may have overlapping foraging regions, although they typically do not assist each other in foraging. Their main food sources normally include proteins and carbohydrates.[9] Instances of carpenter ants bleeding Chinese elm trees for the sap have been observed in the northern Arizona region. These instances may be rare as the colonies vastly exceeded the standard size of carpenter ant colonies elsewhere.[10] When workers find food sources, they communicate this information to the rest of the nest. They use biochemical pheromones to mark the shortest path that can be taken from the nest to the source. When a sizable number of workers follows this trail, the strength of the cue increases and a foraging trail is established. This ends when the food source is depleted. The workers will then feed the queen and the larvae by consuming the food they have found, and regurgitating (trophallaxis) the food at the nest. Foraging trails can either be under or above ground.[11]
Although carpenter ants do not tend to be extremely aggressive, they have developed mechanisms to maximize their provision from a food source when that same food source is visited by a competing organism. This is accomplished in different ways. Sometimes they colonize an area near a relatively static food supply. More often, they develop a systemic way to visit the food source with alternating trips by different individual ants or groups. This allows them to decrease the gains of intruders because the intruders tend to visit in a scattered, random, and unorganized manner. The ants, however, visit the sources systematically such that they lower the mean standing crop. They tend to visit more resource-dense food areas in an attempt to minimize resource availability for others. That is, the more systematic the foraging behavior of the ants, the more random that of its competitors.[12]
Contrary to popular belief, carpenter ants do not actually eat wood because they are unable to digest cellulose. They only create tunnels and nests within it.[13]
Some carpenter ant species can obtain nitrogen by feeding on urine or urine-stained sand. This may be beneficial in nitrogen-limited environments.[14]
All ants in this genus, and some related genera, possess an obligate bacterial endosymbiont called Blochmannia.[15] This bacterium has a small genome, and retains genes to biosynthesize essential amino acids and other nutrients. This suggests the bacterium plays a role in ant nutrition. Many Camponotus species are also infected with Wolbachia, another endosymbiont that is widespread across insect groups. Wolbachia is associated with the nurse cells in the queen's ovaries in the species Camponotus textor, which results in the worker larva being infected.[16]
Carpenter ants work to build the nests that house eggs in environments with usually high humidity due to their sensitivity to environmental humidity. These nests are called primary nests. Satellite nests are constructed once the primary nest is established and has begun to mature. Residents of satellite nests include older larvae, pupae, and some winged individuals. Only eggs, the newly hatched larvae, workers, and the queen reside in the primary nests. As satellite nests do not have environmentally sensitive eggs, the ants can construct them in rather diverse locations that can actually be relatively dry.[17] Some species, like Camponotus vagus, build the nest in a dry place, usually in wood.
When conditions are warm and humid, winged males and females participate in a nuptial flight. They emerge from their satellite nests and females mate with a number of males while in flight. The males die after mating. These newly fertilized queens discard their wings and search for new areas to establish primary nests. The queens build new nests and deposit around 20 eggs, nurturing them as they grow until worker ants emerge. The worker ants eventually assist her in caring for the brood as she lays more eggs. After a few years, reproductive winged ants are born, allowing for the making of new colonies. Again, satellite nests will be established and the process will repeat itself.[17]
Relatedness is the probability that a gene in one individual is an identical copy, by descent, of a gene in another individual. It is essentially a measure of how closely related two individuals are with respect to a gene. It is quantified by the coefficient of relatedness, which is a number between zero and one. The larger the value, the more two individuals are "related". Carpenter ants are social hymenopteran insects. This means the relatedness between offspring and parents is disproportionate. Females are more closely related to their sisters than they are to their offspring. Between full sisters, the coefficient of relatedness is r> 0.75 (due to their haplodiploid genetic system). Between parent and offspring, the coefficient of relatedness is r = 0.5, because, given the event in meiosis, a certain gene has a 50% chance of being passed on to the offspring. The level of relatedness is an important dictator of individual interactions.
Eusocial insects tend to present low genetic diversity within colonies, which can increase with the co-occurrence of multiple queens (polygyny) or with multiple mating by a single queen (polyandry).[18] Distinct reproductive strategies may generate similar patterns of genetic diversity in ants.[18]
According to Hamilton's rule for relatedness, for relative-specific interactions to occur, such as kin altruism, a high level of relatedness is necessary between two individuals. Carpenter ants, like many social insect species, have mechanisms by which individuals determine whether others are nestmates or not. They are useful because they explain the presence or absence of altruistic behavior between individuals. They also act as evolutionary strategies to help prevent incest and promote kin selection.[19] Social carpenter ants recognize their kin in many ways. These methods of recognition are largely chemical in nature, and include environmental odors, pheromones, "transferable labels", and labels from the queen that are distributed to and among nest members.[20] Because they have a chemical basis for emission and recognition, odors are useful because many ants can detect such changes in their environment through their antennae.[21] This allows acceptance of nestmates and rejection of non-nestmates.
The process of recognition for carpenter ants requires two events. First, a cue must be present on a "donor animal". These cues are called "labels". Next, the receiving animal must be able to recognize and process the cue. In order for an individual carpenter ant to be recognized as a nestmate, it must, as an adult, go through specific interactions with older members of the nest.[20] This process is also necessary in order for the ant to recognize and distinguish other individuals. If these interactions do not occur in the beginning of adult life, the ant will be unable to be distinguished as a nestmate and unable to distinguish nestmates.[22]
Recognition allows for the presence of kin-specific interactions, such as kin altruism. Altruistic individuals increase other individuals' fitness at the expense of their own. Carpenter ants perform altruistic actions toward their nestmates so that their shared genes are propagated more readily or more often. In many social insect species like these ants, many worker animals are sterile and do not have the ability to reproduce. As a result, they forgo reproduction to donate energy and help the fertile individuals reproduce.
As in most other social insect species, individual interaction is heavily influenced by the queen. The queen can influence individuals with odors called pheromones, which can have different effects. Some pheromones have been known to calm workers, while others have been known to excite them. Pheromonal cues from ovipositing queens have a stronger effect on worker ants than those of virgin queens.[23]
In many social insect species, social behavior can increase the disease resistance of animals. This phenomenon, called social immunity, exists in carpenter ants. It is mediated through the feeding of other individuals by regurgitation. The regurgitate can have antimicrobial activity, which would be spread amongst members of the colony. Some proteases with antimicrobial activity have been found to exist in regurgitated material. Communal sharing of immune response capability is likely to play a large role in colonial maintenance during highly pathogenic periods.[24]
Polygyny often is associated with many social insect species, and usually is characterized by limited mating flights, small queen size, and other characteristics. However, carpenter ants have "extensive" mating flights and relatively large queens, distinguishing them from polygynous species. Carpenter ants are described as oligogynous because they have a number of fertile queens which are intolerant of each other and must therefore spread to different areas of the nest. Some aggressive interactions have been known to take place between queens, but not necessarily through workers. Queens become aggressive mainly to other queens if they trespass on a marked territory. Queens in a given colony can work together in brood care[7] and the workers tend to experience higher rates of survival in colonies with multiple queens. Some researchers still subscribe to the notion that carpenter ant colonies are only monogynous.[25]
In at least nine Southeast Asian species of the Cylindricus complex, including Camponotus saundersi, workers feature greatly enlarged mandibular glands that run the entire length of the ant's body. They can release their contents suicidally by performing autothysis, thereby rupturing the ant's body and spraying toxic substance from the head, which gives these species the common name "exploding ants".[26][27][28] The enlarged mandibular gland, which is many times the size of that of a normal ant, produces a glue. The glue bursts out and entangles and immobilizes all nearby victims.[29][30]
The termite species Globitermes sulphureus has a similar defensive system.[31]
One of the most familiar species associated with human habitation in the United States is the black carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus).
Carpenter ants can damage wood used in the construction of buildings. They can leave behind a sawdust-like material called frass that provides clues to their nesting location. Carpenter ant galleries are smooth and very different from termite-damaged areas, which have mud packed into the hollowed-out areas. Carpenter ants can be identified by the general presence of one upward protruding node, looking like a spike, at the "waist" attachment between the thorax and abdomen (petiole).[33] Control involves application of insecticides in various forms including dusts and liquids. The dusts are injected directly into galleries and voids where the carpenter ants are living. The liquids are applied in areas where foraging ants are likely to pick the material up and spread the poison to the colony upon returning.[34]
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Carpenter ants and their larvae are eaten in various parts of the world. In Australia, the Honeypot ant (Camponotus inflatus) is regularly eaten raw by Indigenous Australians.[35] It is a particular favourite source of sugar for Australian Aborigines living in arid regions, partially digging up their nests instead of digging them up entirely, in order to preserve this food source.[36][37] In North America, lumbermen during the early years in Maine would eat carpenter ants to prevent scurvy,[38] and in John Muir's publication, First Summer in the Sierra, Muir notes that the Northern Paiute people of California ate the tickling, acid gasters of the large jet-black carpenter ants.[39] In Africa, carpenter ants are among a vast number of species that are consumed by the San people.[40]
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) are large (0.3 to 1 in or 8 to 25 mm) ants indigenous to many forested parts of the world.
They build nests inside wood consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles or jaws, preferably in dead, damp wood. However, unlike termites, they do not consume wood, discarding a material that resembles sawdust outside their nest. Sometimes, carpenter ants hollow out sections of trees. They also commonly infest wooden buildings and structures, and are a widespread problem and major cause of structural damage. Nevertheless, their ability to excavate wood helps in forest decomposition. The genus includes over 1,000 species. They also farm aphids. In their farming, the ants protect the aphids from predators (usually other insects) while they excrete a sugary fluid called honeydew, which the ants get by stroking the aphids with their antennae.
