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Camponotus cinereus
| Camponotus cinereus | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Tribe: | Camponotini |
| Genus: | Camponotus |
| Species: | C. cinereus |
| Binomial name | |
| Camponotus cinereus Mayr, 1876
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| Subspecies | |
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A common sight in arid and semi-arid woodlands in southern Australia, where workers scurry swiftly across the ground with their gasters vertically raised. The colour of the workers ranges from black (most commonly) to a rich red. This ant was described from Victoria. (Heterick 2009)
Identification
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).
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. |
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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
   
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| Worker. Specimen code casent0906937. Photographer Michele Esposito, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by NHMUK, London, UK. |
   
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| Worker. Specimen code casent0906936. Photographer Michele Esposito, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by NHMUK, London, UK. |
   
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| Syntype of Camponotus cinereus amperei. Worker. Specimen code casent0910367. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland. |
   
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| Syntype of Camponotus cinereus. Worker. Specimen code casent0910365. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- cinereus. Camponotus cinereus Mayr, 1876: 62 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
- Type-material: syntype major and minor workers (numbers not stated).
- Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Peak Downs (no collector’s name).
- Type-depository: NHMW.
- Combination in C. (Myrmocamelus): Forel, 1913g: 192; Forel, 1914a: 270;
- combination in C. (Myrmophyma): Emery, 1920b: 192; Santschi, 1928e: 481.
- Status as species: Forel, 1879a: 90; Dalla Torre, 1893: 224; Emery, 1896d: 373 (in list); Forel, 1907h: 302; Forel, 1911e: 291; Santschi, 1919a: 330; Emery, 1925b: 110; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 111; Taylor, 1987a: 11; Bolton, 1995b: 92; McArthur, 2007a: 333; Heterick, 2009: 65; McArthur, 2014: 146.
- Distribution: Australia.
- Current subspecies: nominal plus amperei, notterae.
Type Material
- Syntype, 6 workers, Peak Downs, Queensland, Australia, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Worker Length.7.5-9mm Ferruginous, in part dark, gaster black, sometimes head more or less black; sparse erect hairs, antennae and limbs not hairy, moderate and fine flat lying pubescence, denser pubescence on the gaster, yellow and fine; mandibles with dispersed punctations weakly curved; head glossy, finely and densely punctate coriaceous; Clypeus with a keel in the middle, the anterior margin in the case of the worker major is emarginate in the middle of its arc; thorax convex above the propodeum angle, the mesonotum and the basal part of the metanotum (= propodeum) almost straight longitudinally; the node on the petiole is thick like a rounded cube; gaster with very dense and fine transverse striations.
References
- Emery, C. 1920b. Le genre Camponotus Mayr. Nouvel essai de la subdivision en sous-genres. Rev. Zool. Afr. (Bruss.) 8: 229-260 (combination in C. (Myrmophyma))
- Forel, A. 1913h. Fourmis de Tasmanie et d'Australie récoltées par MM. Lae, Froggatt etc. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 49: 173-195 (page 192, combination in C. (Myrmocamelus))
- Forel, A. 1914a. Le genre Camponotus Mayr et les genres voisins. Rev. Suisse Zool. 22: 257-276 (page 270, combination in C. (Myrmocamelus))
- Heterick, B. E. 2009a. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206. Part 1.
- Heterick, B.E. 2021. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part I: Systematics. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 86, 1-245 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2021.001-245).
- Heterick, B.E. 2022. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part II: Distribution and biology. Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement 86: 247-510 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2022.247-510).
- Mayr, G. 1876. Die australischen Formiciden. J. Mus. Godeffroy 12: 56-115 (page 62, worker described)
- Santschi, F. 1928e. Nouvelles fourmis d'Australie. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 56: 465-483 (page 481, combination in C. (Myrmophyma))
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.