Camponotus floridanus

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Camponotus floridanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Species: C. floridanus
Binomial name
Camponotus floridanus
(Buckley, 1866)

Camponotus floridanus casent0103672 profile 1.jpg

Camponotus floridanus casent0103672 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Synonyms


Common Name
Florida Carpenter Ant
Language: English

Common in Florida nesting in old stumps and logs. Very pugnacious.

Photo Gallery

  • Camponotus floridanus major worker. Photo by Alex Wild.
  • Camponotus floridanus attached to Spanish moss moments after the final manipulated biting behavior induced by Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani. Photo by Charissa de Bekker.
  • Camponotus floridanus with the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis from Florida, United States. Photo by Katja Schulz.
  • Camponotus floridanus with the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis from Seminole County, Florida, USA. Photo by Charissa de Bekker.

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

This very abundant species lives in almost all disturbed and natural habitats in Florida. It readily colonizes containers left outside, and could easily be transported to new areas. Related species or forms of the subgenus Myrmothrix (a group in serious taxonomic disarray) are among the ants that Donisthorpe (1915) reported arriving in England, usually in bunches of bananas, but also in orchids. It occurs through the Florida panhandle, and as Creighton (1950) pointed out, it appears closely related to the Texas form that used to be called Camponotus abdominalis transvectus (now a synonym of Camponotus atriceps). There is a good chance that this complex once occurred around the Gulf of Mexico, and was later separated into eastern and western populations. Further work on the taxonomy of this section of Camponotus is needed before we will be happy with either the nomenclature or provenance of the Florida species. (Deyrup, Davis & Cover, 2000.)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 33.18° to 18.64075°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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.
pChart

Biology

Workers can recognize the presence of a highly fertile queen via her eggs, which are marked with the queen’s Cuticular Hydrocarbons (Endler et al. 2006). Information on a queen's fertility is thus encoded in the hydrocarbon profile of her eggs.

Atchison & Lucky (2022) found that this species does not remove seeds.

Flight Period

X X X X X X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: antkeeping.info.

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • This species is a host for the eucharitid wasp Obeza floridana (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (multiple encounter modes; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the eulophid wasp Horismenus floridensis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (multiple encounter modes; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the phorid fly Diocophora trichogaster (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani (a pathogen) (Araujo et al., 2018).

Genetics

Camponotus floridanus has had their entire genome sequenced.

Palomeque et al. (2015) found class II mariner elements, a form of transposable elements, in the genome of this ant.

Life History Traits

  • Queen number: monogynous (Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Camponotus floridanus casent0103673 head 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103673 profile 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103673 dorsal 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103673 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0103673. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.
Camponotus floridanus casent0104894 head 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0104894 profile 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0104894 dorsal 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0104894 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0104894. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by STDC, Shawn T. Dash Collection.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Camponotus floridanus casent0103675 head 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103675 profile 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103675 profile 2.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103675 dorsal 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103675 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0103675. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Camponotus floridanus casent0103676 head 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103676 profile 2.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103676 dorsal 1.jpgCamponotus floridanus casent0103676 label 1.jpg
Male (alate). Specimen code casent0103676. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.

Nomenclature

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

  • floridanus. Formica floridana Buckley, 1866: 161 (w.) U.S.A. (Florida).
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: U.S.A.: Florida (E. Norton).
    • Type-depository: unknown (no material known to exist (Creighton, 1950a: 396)).
    • Mayr, 1886d: 423 (q.m.); Wheeler, W.M. 1910d: 325 (s.).
    • Combination in Camponotus: Mayr, 1886d: 423;
    • combination in C. (Myrmothrix): Emery, 1925b: 108.
    • Subspecies of atriceps: Mayr, 1886d: 423; Cresson, 1887: 256; Emery, in Dalla Torre, 1893: 231.
    • Subspecies of abdominalis: Emery, in Dalla Torre, 1893: 219 (footnote); Emery, 1893i: 670; Emery, 1896d: 372 (in list); Wheeler, W.M. 1902f: 21; Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 571; Wheeler, W.M. 1913c: 117; Emery, 1925b: 108; Smith, M.R. 1930a: 6; Wheeler, W.M. 1932a: 15; Santschi, 1936b: 213; Creighton, 1950a: 396; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 844; Smith, M.R. 1958c: 145; Wilson, 1964b: 11; Smith, M.R. 1967: 366; Kempf, 1972a: 60; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1431; Deyrup & Trager, 1986: 219.
    • Junior synonym of abdominalis: Hashmi, 1973: 82; Brandão, 1991: 334.
    • Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 231; Wheeler, W.M. 1910d: 325 (redescription); Deyrup, et al. 1989: 100; Bolton, 1995b: 100; Deyrup, 2003: 44; Hansen & Klotz, 2005: 94; MacGown & Forster, 2005: 66; MacGown, et al. 2007: 18; Deyrup, 2017: 189.
    • Senior synonym of yankee: Mayr, 1886d: 423; Emery, 1896d: 372; Wheeler, W.M. 1910d: 325; Emery, 1925b: 108; Creighton, 1950a: 396; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 844; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1431; Bolton, 1995b: 100.
    • Distribution: U.S.A.
  • yankee. Camponotus atriceps r. yankee Forel, 1885a: 340 (s.w.) U.S.A. (Florida, Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts).
    • Type-material: syntype major and minor workers (numbers not stated).
    • Type-localities: U.S.A.: Florida, Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts (no collectors’ names; perhaps M. Treat).
    • Type-depository: MHNG.
    • Junior synonym of floridanus: Mayr, 1886d: 423; Emery, 1896d: 372; Wheeler, W.M. 1910d: 325; Emery, 1925b: 108; Creighton, 1950a: 396; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 844; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1431; Bolton, 1995b: 130.

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

Description

Worker

Wheeler (1910) - Major Length, 8-10 mm.; head, 3.5 x 3.4 mm.; scape, 2.7 mm.; hind tibia, 3 mm.

Head large, nearly as broad as long, broader behind than in front, with broadly excised posterior and convex lateral margins. Eyes flattened. Mandibles 5- to 6-toothed. Antennae short, scapes flattened at the base but not dilated, enlarged towards their tips, which do not extend beyond the posterior corners of the head. Clypeus carinate, its border produced as a prominent lobe with sharp corners, between which the median edge is angularly excised. Frontal carinae lyrate, rather far apart; frontal area small, triangular; frontal groove distinct. Thorax robust, narrower than the head in front, compressed and more narrowed in the pleural region; in profile rather unevenly arched, with deep pro-meoonotal suture, highest in the mesonotal region; epinotum depressed, sloping, with indistinct and subequal base and declivity. Petiole in profile cuneate, with similar, feebly convex anterior and posterior surfaces; seen from behind, evenly rounded above, with rather blunt border. Legs moderately long and robust; middle and hind tibiae neither compressed nor sulcate, elliptical in cross section.

Mandibles opaque, very finely striated and sparsely punctate; teeth smooth and shining. Head opaque, very densely and minutely punctate or shagreened. Cheeks with small, scattered foveolae; clypeus and lateral borders of front with a few large piligerous foveolte. Thorax, gaster and legs moderately shining, more superficially shagreened.

Hairs coarse, long, fulvous, erect, rather abundant, shorter on the anterior surface of the antennal scapes and on the legs, absent on the cheeks and sides of the head, very short on the mandibles and clypeal border. Pubescence very short and dilute, distinct only on the gaster.

Head ferruginous red; mandibles, antennal scapes and anterior border of cheeks and clypeus darker. Thorax and legs more yellowish red. Gaster black, with the posterior edges of the segments narrowly yellow.

Minor Length, 5.5-7 mm.

Head, excluding the mandibles, about twice as long as broad, with straight, parallel sides and short evenly rounded postocular portion. Eyes rather large and convex. Clypeus like that of the worker major. Antennae slender, scapes not flattened at the base, reaching about half their length beyond the posterior corners of the head. Thorax low, narrow and evenly arcuate above, epinotum without distinct base and declivity. Petiole like that of the worker major.

Head more shining and sometimes of the same yellowish red color as the thorax and legs. Antennae dark red throughout. Pilosity as in the worker major.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Addison D. S., I. Bartoszek, V. Booher, M. A. Deyrup, M. Schuman, J. Schmid, and K. Worley. 2016. Baseline surveys for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the western Everglades, Collier County, Florida. Florida Entomologist 99(3): 389-394.
  • Annotated Ant Species List Ordway-Swisher Biological Station. Downloaded at http://ordway-swisher.ufl.edu/species/os-hymenoptera.htm on 5th Oct 2010.
  • Atchison R. A., J. Hulcr, and A. Lucky. 2018. Managed fire frequency significantly influences the litter arthropod community in longleaf pine flatwoods. Environmental Entomology 20(10): 1-11.
  • Bonasio R., G. Zhang, C. Ye, N. S. Mutti, X. Fang, N. Qin, G. Donahue, P. Yang, Q. Li, C. Li et al.. 2010. Genomic comparison of the ants Camponotus floridanus and Harpegnathos saltator. Science (Washington, D. C.). 329: 1068-1071.
  • Braman C. A., and B. T. Forschler. 2018. Survey of Formicidae attracted to protein baits on Georgia’s Barrier Island dunes. Southeastern Naturalist 17(4): 645-653.
  • Degnan, P.H., A.B. Lazarus, C.D. Brock and J.J. Wernegreen. 2004. Host-Symbiont Stability and Fast Evolutionary Rates in an Ant-Bacterium Association:Cospeciation of Camponotus Species and Their Endosymbionts, Candidatus Blochmannia. Systematic Biology 53(1):95-110
  • Del Toro, I. 2010. PERSONAL COMMUNICATION. MUSEUM RECORDS COLLATED BY ISRAEL DEL TORO
  • Deyrup M. 2016. Ants of Florida: identification and natural history. CRC Press, 423 pages.
  • Deyrup M., C. Johnson, G. C. Wheeler, J. Wheeler. 1989. A preliminary list of the ants of Florida. Florida Entomologist 72: 91-101
  • Deyrup M., L. Deyrup, and J. Carrel. 2013. Ant Species in the Diet of a Florida Population of Eastern Narrow-Mouthed Toads, Gastrophryne carolinensis. Southeastern Naturalist 12(2): 367-378.
  • Deyrup, M. and J. Trager. 1986. Ants of the Archbold Biological Station, Highlands County, Florida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 69(1):206-228
  • Deyrup, Mark A., Carlin, Norman, Trager, James and Umphrey, Gary. 1988. A Review of the Ants of the Florida Keys. The Florida Entomologist. 71(2):163-176.
  • Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
  • Epperson, D.M. and C.R. Allen. 2010. Red Imported Fire Ant Impacts on Upland Arthropods in Southern Mississippi. American Midland Naturalist, 163(1):54-63.
  • Forster J.A. 2005. The Ants (hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Alabama. Master of Science, Auburn University. 242 pages.
  • Ionescu-Hirsch A. 2009. An annotated list of Camponotus of Israel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a key and descriptions of new species. ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY 39: 57–98.
  • Ipser R. M. 2004. Native and exotic ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Georgia: Ecological Relationships with implications for development of biologically-based management strategies. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, University of Georgia. 165 pages.
  • Ipser, R.M., M.A. Brinkman, W.A. Gardner and H.B. Peeler. 2004. A Survey of Ground-Dwelling Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Georgia. The Florida Entomologist 87(3) 253-260.
  • Jeanne R. J. 1979. A latitudinal gradient in rates of ant predation. Ecology 60(6): 1211-1224.
  • Johnson C. 1986. A north Florida ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insecta Mundi 1: 243-246
  • Jones I. M., S. Koptur, and J. E. Pena. 2017. Exploring whether and how ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) affect reproductive fitness in Senna mexicana var. chapmanii (Fabaceae). Florida Entomologist, 100(3): 539-545.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • King J. R. 2007. Patterns of co-occurrence and body size overlap among ants in Florida's upland ecosystems. Ann. Zool. Fennici. 44: 189-201
  • Longino, J.T. 2010. Personal Communication. Longino Collection Database
  • Lubertazzi D. and Tschinkel WR. 2003. Ant community change across a ground vegetation gradient in north Florida’s longleaf pine flatwoods. 17pp. Journal of Insect Science. 3:21
  • MacGown J. A. 2015. Report on the ants collected on Spring Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina. A report submitted to Spring Island Nature Preserve, May 2015. Mississippi Entomological Museum Report #2015-01. 8 pp
  • MacGown J. A., J. G. Hill, and M. Deyrup. 2009. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Little Ohoopee River Dunes, Emanuel County, Georgia. J. Entomol. Sci. 44(3): 193-197.
  • MacGown J. A., R. L. Brown, J. G. Hill, and B. Layton. 2007. Carpenter ants of Mississippi. Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Bulletin 1158: 1-35.
  • MacGown J. A., and R. Whitehouse. 2015. A preliminary report of the ants of West Ship Island. A report submitted to the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Mississippi Entomological Museum Report #2015-02. 9 pp.
  • MacGown, J. A. and J. G. Hill. 2010. Two new exotic pest ants, Pseudomyrmex gracilis and Monomorium floricola (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) collected in Mississippi. Midsouth Entomologist 3 (2): 106-109.
  • MacGown, J.A and J.A. Forster. 2005. A preliminary list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Alabama, U.S.A. Entomological News 116(2):61-74
  • MacGown, J.A. and T. Lockley. Ants of Horn Island, Jackson County, Mississippi
  • Michigan State University, The Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection. Accessed on January 7th 2014 at http://www.arc.ent.msu.edu:8080/collection/index.jsp
  • Moreau C. S., M. A. Deyrup, and L. R. David Jr. 2014. Ants of the Florida Keys: Species Accounts, Biogeography, and Conservation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Insect Sci. 14(295): DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieu157
  • Saarinen, E.V. and J.C. Daniels.2006. Miami blue butterfly larvae (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): New information on the symbionts of an endangered taxon. Florida Entomologist 89(1): 69-74
  • Sargent J. M., Benson. E.P., Zungoli. P. A. and Bridges. W. C. 2002. Carpenter Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Fauna of South Carolina. J. Agric. Urban Entomol. 18: 227-236
  • Smith M. R. 1930. A list of Florida ants. Florida Entomologist 14: 1-6.
  • Smith M. R. 1934. A list of the ants of South Carolina. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 42: 353-361.
  • Smith M. R. 1965. House-infesting ants of the eastern United States. Their recognition, biology, and economic importance. United States Department of Agriculture. Technical Bulletin 1326: 1-105.
  • Spiesman B. J. and G. S. Cumming. 2008. Communities in context: the influences of multiscale environmental variation on local ant community structure. Landscape Ecol. 23: 313-325
  • Trager, J. and C.Johnson. 1985. A slave-making ant in Florida: Polyergus lucidus with observations on the natural history of its host Formica archboldi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The Florida Entomologist 68(2):261-266.
  • Trager, M.D. and J.C. Daniels. 2009. Ant Tending of Miami Blue Butterfly Larvae (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): Partner Diversity and Effects on Larval Performance. The Florida Entomologist 92(3):474-482
  • Van Pelt A. F. 1948. A Preliminary Key to the Worker Ants of Alachua County, Florida. The Florida Entomologist 30(4): 57-67
  • Van Pelt A. F. 1956. The ecology of the ants of the Welaka Reserve, Florida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). American Midland Naturalist 56: 358-387
  • Wetterer J. K. 2018. Native and exotic ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) nesting in red mangroves (Malpighiales: Rhizophora mangle) of eastern Florida. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 144(2): 347-357.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1910. The North American ants of the genus Camponotus Mayr. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 20: 295-354.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1913. Ants collected in Georgia by Dr. J. C. Bradley and Mr. W. T. Davis. Psyche (Cambridge) 20: 112-117.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1932. A list of the ants of Florida with descriptions of new forms. J. N. Y. Entomol. Soc. 40: 1-17.
  • Whitcomb W. H., H. A. Denmark, A. P. Bhatkar, and G. L. Greene. 1972. Preliminary studies on the ants of Florida soybean fields. Florida Entomologist 55: 129-142.
  • Wilson E. O. 1964. The ants of the Florida Keys. Breviora 210: 1-14.
  • Wilson E. O., and A. Francoeur. 1974. Ants of the Formica fusca group in Florida. Florida Entomologist 57: 115-116.
Retrieved from "https://antwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Camponotus_floridanus&oldid=717423"