Camponotus claripes nudimalis

Camponotus claripes nudimalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Species:	C. claripes
Subspecies:	C. claripes nudimalis
Trinomial name
	Camponotus claripes nudimalis; Forel, 1913

Apparently confined to the south-west (WA). This is one of the very few Camponotus species that will forage inside Perth houses. At least some colonies of this ant make their nest in living trees. A well-grown Eucalyptus ficifolia F. Muell on the author’s property contains a nest of C. claripes nudimalis, with tunnels under the outer bark. Copious amounts of sawdust within bark crevices, and on the ground around the tree indicate that these ants have been actively engaged in excavating wood from the living tree, even though the colony may have been established in pre-existing cavities made by another arthropod.

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.

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.

Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

nudimalis. Camponotus claripes var. nudimalis Forel, 1913g: 191 (in text) (s.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: holotype major worker.
- Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Bridgetown (W. Michaelsen).
- Type-depository: MHNG.
- Combination in C. (Myrmophyma): Emery, 1925b: 110.
- Subspecies of claripes: Emery, 1925b: 110; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 112; Taylor, 1987a: 11; Bolton, 1995b: 114; Heterick, 2009: 69.
- Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

Holotype, worker, Bridgetown, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.

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

Description

I received at the time from M.Michaelsen from Bridgetown, Western Australia a worker major which I had assigned to claripes. But in reality it constitutes a different variety which is distinguished by its extremely sparse pilosity, absolutely absent on the cheeks, and also by the pits on its clypeus which are transformed into oblique long coarse grooves. These grooves are very distinct. The insect is very shiny with the gaster a dark brown, the head and the thorax a little yellowish light brown and the limbs yellowish.

References

Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 110, 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 191, soldier described)
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).
Taylor, R. W.; Brown, D. R. 1985. Formicoidea. Zool. Cat. Aust. 2:1- 149: 1-149, 30 (page 112, Subspecies of claripes)