Camponotus pallidiceps

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Camponotus pallidiceps
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Species: C. pallidiceps
Binomial name
Camponotus pallidiceps
Emery, 1887

Camponotus pallidiceps casent0905232 p 1 high.jpg

Camponotus pallidiceps casent0905232 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Nothing is known about the biology of Camponotus pallidiceps.

Identification

A member of the Camponotus nigriceps species group. McArthur and Adams (1996) - Most of the largest major workers possess a distinctive scalloped summit of the node when viewed from the rear. As worker size decreases this scallop fades with the summit becoming flat or slightly convex. Sometimes Camponotus consobrinus displays a feeble scallop at the node summit. It can be separated from C. consobrinus by gula setae wh1ch are sparse in C. pallidiceps particularly in minor workers and absent in C. consobrinus.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

McArthur and Adams (1996) - The known distribution is centered on the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, with a single collection from the Armidale region.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -29.29833° to -37°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

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

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Camponotus pallidiceps casent0905233 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus pallidiceps casent0905233 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus pallidiceps casent0905233 d 1 high.jpgCamponotus pallidiceps casent0905233 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Camponotus nigriceps pallidicepsWorker. Specimen code casent0905233. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

  • pallidiceps. Camponotus nigriceps var. pallidiceps Emery, 1887a: 211 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
    • Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 103.
    • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1896d: 372 (in list); Wheeler, W.M. 1933b: 23.
    • Subspecies of nigriceps: Dalla Torre, 1893: 244; Emery, 1925b: 103; Clark, 1934c: 71; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 117; Taylor, 1987a: 14; Bolton, 1995b: 116.
    • Status as species: McArthur & Adams, 1996: 38; McArthur, 2007a: 308; McArthur, 2014: 92.

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

Description

Worker and Female. The abdomen is all dark, but the head is generally a light rusty color, with a darker hazy mark on the vertex which leaves clear both sides of the head and the lateral swelling of the occiput. The markings on the outside of the head and the hair on the legs are identical with that of the type nigriceps Smith.

Worker

McArthur and Adams (1996) - Colour: brown with lighter patches on head and mesosoma, mandibles and anterior clypeus darker, legs and node lighter, gaster black or dark brown. Pilosity: up to 0.35 mm long, plentiful on pronotum and mcsonotum and 8-15 on propodeum (Fig. 29a-b), on gula sparse sometimes obsolete, plentiful on gaster pointing backwards, short setae on scapes raised < 10°, short setae on midtibiae 20-40°. Pubescence: a coat of curved raised setae about 0.1 mm long, spaced < length, visible on the dorsum of mesosoma, sparse on head. Integument finely reticulate, head and gaster glossy, reflectivity from mesosoma reduced by pubescence. Node summit viewed from rear: usually concave in major workers (Fig. 15a) but sometimes flat, flat or slightly convex in other workers. Metanotum usually distinct in major workers.

HW = 1.60-3.20 mm; HL = 2.15-3.15 mm; TL = 2.30-2.90; n = 20. TL = 2.06 + 1.77 log HW (n = 19, r = 0.87, s.e.(y) = 0·16, s.e.(x) = 0.07). PD:D =1.5 increasing to 3.0 in minor workers.

Type Material

McArthur and Adams (1996) - Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa, Drawers 39 and 113, 1 major worker and 1 medium worker each labelled 'typus', many cotypes. Major worker: HW = 3.3 mm, HL = 3.45 mm PW 2.0 mm, HT 2.5 mm, TL 2.9 mm. Medium worker: HW = 1.5 mm, HL = 2.85, PW = 1.3 mm, HT = 1.2 mm, TL 2.4 mm. D’Albertis collection, 1873, from Mount Victoria, New South Wales.

Etymology

McArthur and Adams (1996) - Pallidus (Latin: pale or pallid) and cephal (Greek: head). Presumably, Emery considered this species to be a pale headed subspecies of Smith’s black-headed Camponotus nigriceps.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Emery C. 1887. Catalogo delle formiche esistenti nelle collezioni del Museo Civico di Genova. Parte terza. Formiche della regione Indo-Malese e dell'Australia. [part]. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. 24(4): 209-258.
  • McArthur A. J., and M. Adams. 1996. A morphological and molecular revision of the Camponotus nigriceps group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Australia. Invertebr. Taxon. 10: 1-46.