Camponotus aegaeus

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Camponotus aegaeus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Subgenus: Myrmentoma
Species group: kiesenwetteri
Species: C. aegaeus
Binomial name
Camponotus aegaeus
Emery, 1915

Camponotus aegaeus casent0179874 p 1 high.jpg

Camponotus aegaeus casent0179874 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

A ground-nesting species.

Identification

Salata et al. (2019) - A member of the Camponotus kiesenwetteri species group. Head, mesosoma, and gaster uniformly blackish-brown to black; metanotal groove absent; propodeum without posterior protrusion; body densely punctate, appears dull; base of scape without extension; whole body bears long, thick, pale, dense and erect setae, and short appressed microsetae; petiolar scale thin (PI > 1.50).

The almost completely blackish-brown to black body and regularly arched (in lateral view) mesosoma cluster this species with Camponotus libanicus. At first glance both species look extremely similar. The most relevant character distinguishing both taxa is the shape of petiolar scale. Camponotus aegaeus has a thin scale (PI > 1.50) with a feebly convex anterior surface, while in C. libanicus the scale is thick (PI < 1.42) with a strongly convex anterior surface.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Salata et al. (2019) - Greece: North Aegean Islands, South Aegean Islands (Dodecanese), Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace; Turkey: Adana, Afyon, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bilecik, Bursa, Çanakkale, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, İzmir, Kırklareli, Kütahya, Manisa, Muğla, Sakarya, Uşak, and Yalova. The species was also recorded from North Macedonia (Bračko et al. 2014) and Bulgaria (Lapeva-Gjonova 2010).

The kiesenwetteri species group contains taxa of the subgenus Myrmentoma that are distributed almost exclusively in the Aegean. The two exceptions, Camponotus aegaeus and Camponotus libanicus, collectively extend the group's distributional range into Asia Minor and the Near East. These two species appear to be vicariant taxa, with C. aegaeus to the west and C. libanicus to the east. Niche modeling for both species show similar areas with high suitability, especially along the south coast of Turkey and Cyprus. However, C. aegaeus has not been recorded from the island. Solar radiation was the variable that contributed the most to the niche model of C. aegaeus.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 42.596228° to 36.05°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Greece (type locality), North Macedonia, Türkiye.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

See the Camponotus kiesenwetteri species group page for information about the biology of C. aegaeus.

Castes

Worker

Salata et al. 2019. Figure 17-18. Camponotus aegaeus major (17) and minor (18).

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • aegaeus. Camponotus (Orthonotomyrmex) libanicus var. aegaea Emery, 1915h: 4, figs. 1, 2 (s.w.q.m.) GREECE (Rhodes I.).
    • Combination in C. (Myrmentoma): Emery, 1925b: 121.
    • Subspecies of libanicus: Emery, 1925b: 121; Menozzi, 1936d: 304; Bolton, 1995b: 84.
    • Status as species: Radchenko, 1996b: 1197 (in key); Radchenko, 1997b: 705; Lapeva-Gjonova, et al. 2010: 41; Legakis, 2011: 28; Karaman, C. et al. 2011: 185; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 470; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 5; Karaman, C. & Aktaç, 2013: 50 (in key); Borowiec, L. 2014: 25; Bračko, et al. 2014: 18; Lebas, et al. 2016: 136; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2018: 4; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 43; Salata, Loss, et al. 2019: 90.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Type Material

Salata et al. (2019) - Syntype workers, queen, Isola Rodi, Greece (Festa), Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa, Syntype worker images, AntWeb, CASENT0905395.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
  • Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
  • Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2018. Notes on ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Samos Island, Greece. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-13.
  • Bracko G., H. C. Wagner, A. Schulz, E. Gioahim, J. Maticic, and A. Tratnik. 2014. New investigation and a revised checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Republic of Macedonia. North-Western Journal of Zoology 10(1): 10-24.
  • Bracko G., H. C. Wagner, E. Gioahin, J. Maticic, and A. Tratnik. 2011. Contribution to the knowledge of the ant fauna of the southeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. Entomologica romanica 16: 54.
  • Bracko G., K. Kiran, C. Karaman, S. Salata, and L. Borowiec. 2016. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Greek Thrace. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7945. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e7945
  • Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
  • Emery, C. "Escursioni zoologiche del Dr. Enrico Festa nell'Isola di Rodi. XII. Formiche." Bollettino del Museo di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparatadella Reale Università di Torino 30 (1915): 1-7.
  • Hamann H. H. F., and W. Klemm. 1976. Ergebnisse der von Dr. O. Paget und Dr. E. Kritscher auf Rhodos durchgeführten zoologischen Exkursionen. XVI. Formicidae. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 80: 669-679.
  • Karaman C., N. Aktac, and K. Kiran. 2009. Ants of the genus CamponotusMayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Kaz Mountains, Turkey, with descriptions of sexuals of Camponotus candiotes Emery, 1894 and Camponotus ionius Emery, 1920. Tubitak 35(2): 183-197.
  • Kiran K., and N. Aktac. 2006. The vertical distribution of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Samanh Mountains, Turkey. Linzer Biol. Beitr. 38(2): 1105-1122.
  • Lapeva-Gjonova, A. "First records of three ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Bulgaria." Myrmecological News 14 (2010): 1-3.
  • Lapeva-Gjonova, L., V. Antonova, A. G. Radchenko, and M. Atanasova. "Catalogue of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Bulgaria." ZooKeys 62 (2010): 1-124.
  • Menozzi C. 1929. Ricerche faunistiche nelle isole italiane dell'Egeo. Imenotteri (formiche). Archivio Zoologico Italiano. 13: 145-146.
  • Radchenko A. G. 1997. A review of ants of the subgenus Myrmentoma, Genus Camponotus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), from Asian Palaearctic. Entomological Review 77(8): 1050-1059.
  • Salata S., A. C. Loss, C. Karaman, K. Kiran, and L. Borowiec. 2019. Review of the Camponotus kiesenwetteri group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Aegean with the description of a new species. ZooKeys 899: 85-107.
  • Salata S., and L Borowiec. 2017. Species of Tetramorium semilaeve complex from Balkans and western Turkey, with description of two new species of (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 62:279–313.
  • Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2018. Taxonomic and faunistic notes on Greek ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-51.
  • Tausan I., and A. Lapeva-Gjonova. 2017. Camponotus samius Forel, 1889 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) – at the north edge of its European distribution. North-Western Journal of Zoology: e177201
  • Vieira de Oliveira J. A., D. Martins da Silva, and F. A. Santana. 2014. Ant species diversity in ciliary forest and gallery forest areas in central Brazil. Advances in Entomology 2(1): 24-32.