Camponotus bidens

Camponotus bidens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Species:	C. bidens
Binomial name
Camponotus bidens Mayr, 1870 Specimen labels
Subspecies
Camponotus bidens repressus Forel, 1912

A few specimens of this small, timid ant were taken on a Triplaris with Crematogaster in March. C. bidens and its congeners are known to nest in hollow, dead twigs of a variety of trees (Wheeler and Darlington 1930). I have taken numerous colonies of this species from dead twigs in the following localities in Panama: Frijoles, Corozal, Red Tank, Gatuncillo, Mandingo, Mt. Hope and Barro Colorado Island (Wheeler 1934).

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 10.9° to -19.805°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia (type locality), Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

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.

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code jtlc000000474. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by JTLC.

Nomenclature

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

• bidens. Camponotus bidens Mayr, 1870a: 387 (w.) COLOMBIA.
  • Type-material: holotype minor worker.
  • Type-locality: Colombia (“New Granada”): (no further data) (Lindig).
  • Type-depository: NHMW.
  • Forel, 1899c: 145 (footnote) (s.); Wheeler, W.M. 1934g: 225 (q.).
  • Combination in C. (Myrmeurynota): Forel, 1912i: 92;
  • combination in C. (Myrmorhachis): Forel, 1914a: 274;
  • combination in C. (Myrmocladoecus): Wheeler, W.M. 1922c: 16.
  • Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 222; Emery, 1896d: 377 (in list); Forel, 1899c: 145 (footnote); Forel, 1902b: 172; Wheeler, W.M. 1916d: 330; Wheeler, W.M. 1918b: 28; Wheeler, W.M. 1922c: 16; Emery, 1925b: 166; Wheeler, W.M. & Darlington, 1930: 109; Wheeler, W.M. 1934e: 424; Wheeler, W.M. 1934g: 225; Wheeler, W.M. 1942: 259; Kempf, 1972a: 54; Bolton, 1995b: 88; Guénard & Economo, 2015: 227; Mackay & Mackay, 2019: 753.
  • Distribution: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Trinidad, Venezuela.
  • Current subspecies: nominal plus repressus.

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

Description

Queen

Wheeler (1934) - Dealated, measures nearly 7 mm and is long and slender. Head slightly longer than broad, subtrapezoidal, nearly as wide in front as behind, with straight sides and distinctly convex posterior border. Eyes large, moderately convex, distant nearly one and one-half times their length from the anterior corners of the head. Mandibles convex, 6-toothed. Clypeus very convex and rounded in the middle, depressed on the sides, its anterior border sinuate medially and on each side. Antennal scapes extending nearly twice their greatest diameter beyond the posterior border of the head. Thorax elongate-elliptical, more than twice as long as broad, narrower than the head; mesonotum longer than broad; epinotum with very convex, backwardly sloping base, forming a distinct angle in profile with the longer, perpendicular, slightly concave declivity. Petiolar scale thick, transverse, broader than the posterior part of the epinotum, with very blunt, rounded superior border and convex anterior and posterior surfaces. Gaster elongate-elliptical, parallel-sided in the middle, as long as the remainder of the body.

Subopaque, finely and indistinctly shagreened; scutellum, epinotum, petiole and bases of gastric segments more shining; mandibles, cheeks and clypeus punctate; mesonotum with a few coarse punctures along the parapsidal furrows. Hairs whitish, short, erect and rather sparse, confined to the head, thorax, abdomen, tips of scapes and femora. Pubescence short, dilute and appressed, distinct on the gaster and legs. Black, like the worker; mandibles, antennae, wing-insertions, trochanters, bases of tibiae and terminal tarsal joints, red.

References

• Albuquerque, E., Prado, L., Andrade-Silva, J., Siqueira, E., Sampaio, K., Alves, D., Brandão, C., Andrade, P., Feitosa, R., Koch, E., Delabie, J., Fernandes, I., Baccaro, F., Souza, J., Almeida, R., Silva, R. 2021. Ants of the State of Pará, Brazil: a historical and comprehensive dataset of a key biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon Basin. Zootaxa 5001, 1–83 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5001.1.1).
• Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 166, combination in C. (Myrmocladoecus))
• Forel, A. 1899i. Formicidae. [concl.]. Biol. Cent.-Am. Hym. 3: 137-160 (page 145, (footnote) soldier described)
• Forel, A. 1912j. Formicides néotropiques. Part VI. 5me sous-famille Camponotinae Forel. Mém. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 20: 59-92 (page 92, combination in C. (Myrmeurynota))
• Forel, A. 1914a. Le genre Camponotus Mayr et les genres voisins. Rev. Suisse Zool. 22: 257-276 (page 274, combination in C. (Myrorhachis))
• Franco, W., Ladino, N., Delabie, J.H.C., Dejean, A., Orivel, J., Fichaux, M., Groc, S., Leponce, M., Feitosa, R.M. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674, 509–543 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4674.5.2).
• Mayr, G. 1870a. Formicidae novogranadenses. Sitzungsber. Kais. Akad. Wiss. Wien Math.-Naturwiss. Cl. Abt. I 61: 370-417 (page 387, worker described)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1934e. Some aberrant species of Camponotus (Colobopsis) from the Fiji Islands. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 27: 415-424 (page 424, combination in C. (Myrmocladoecus))
• Wheeler, W. M. 1934g. Neotropical ants collected by Dr. Elisabeth Skwarra and others. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 77: 157-240 (page 225, queen described)
• Wheeler, W. M. and P. J. Darlington, Jr. 1930. Ant-tree notes from Rio Frio, Colombia. Psyche. 37:107-117.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Achury R., and A.V. Suarez. 2017. Richness and composition of ground-dwelling ants in tropical rainforest and surrounding landscapes in the Colombian Inter-Andean valley. Neotropical Entomology https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-017-0565-4
• Arruda F. V., M. A. Pesquero, D. G. Marcelino, G. A. Leiter, J. H. C. Delabie, and R. Fagundes. 2015. Size and condition of bamboo as structural factors behind the vertical stratification of the bamboo-nesting ant community. Insectes Sociaux DOI 10.1007/s00040-015-0440-4
• Basset Y., L. Cizek, P. Cuenoud, R. K. Didham, F. Guilhaumon, O. Missa, V. Novotny, F. Odegaards, T. Roslin, J. Schmidl et al. 2012. Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest. Science 338(6113): 1481-1484.
• Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
• Franco W., N. Ladino, J. H. C. Delabie, A. Dejean, J. Orivel, M. Fichaux, S. Groc, M. Leponce, and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674(5): 509-543.
• Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
• Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
• Peres M. C. L. 2012. Efeito de clareiras naturais sobre as assembleias de formigas (Formicidae) e aranhas (Araneae) num trecho de Mata Atlantica. PhD thesis, Universidade Federal da Bahia, 111 pages.
• Pires de Prado L., R. M. Feitosa, S. Pinzon Triana, J. A. Munoz Gutierrez, G. X. Rousseau, R. Alves Silva, G. M. Siqueira, C. L. Caldas dos Santos, F. Veras Silva, T. Sanches Ranzani da Silva, A. Casadei-Ferreira, R. Rosa da Silva, and J. Andrade-Silva. 2019. An overview of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the state of Maranhao, Brazil. Pap. Avulsos Zool. 59: e20195938.
• Pérez-Sánchez A. J., J. E. Lattke, and M. A. Riera-Valera. 2014. The Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Macanao Semi-arid Peninsula in Venezuela: An Altitudinal Variation Glance. J Biodivers Biopros Dev 1: 116. doi:10.4172/ijbbd.1000116
• Siqueira de Castro F., A. B. Gontijo, P. de Tarso Amorim Castro, and S. Pontes Ribeiro. 2012. Annual and Seasonal Changes in the Structure of Litter-Dwelling Ant Assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Atlantic Semideciduous Forests. Psyche doi:10.1155/2012/959715
• Siqueira de Castro F., A. B. Gontijo, W. Duarte da Rocha, and S. Pontes Ribeiro. 2011. As comunidades de formigas de serapilheira nas florestas semidecíduas do Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, Minas Gerais. MG.BIOTA, Belo Horizonte 3(5): 5-24.
• Ulyssea M.A., C. E. Cereto, F. B. Rosumek, R. R. Silva, and B. C. Lopes. 2011. Updated list of ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) recorded in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, with a discussion of research advances and priorities. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 55(4): 603-–611.
• Vasconcelos, H.L., J.M.S. Vilhena, W.E. Magnusson and A.L.K.M. Albernaz. 2006. Long-term effects of forest fragmentation on Amazonian ant communities. Journal of Biogeography 33:1348-1356
• Wheeler W. M. 1922. The ants of Trinidad. American Museum Novitates 45: 1-16.
• Wheeler W. M. 1934. Neotropical ants collected by Dr. Elisabeth Skwarra and others. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 77: 157-240.
• Wheeler W. M. 1942. Studies of Neotropical ant-plants and their ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 90: 1-262.
• da Silva de Oliveira A. B., and F. A. Schmidt. 2019. Ant assemblages of Brazil nut trees Bertholletia excelsa in forest and pasture habitats in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon. Biodiversity and Conservation 28(2): 329-344.