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Camponotus fragilis
| Camponotus fragilis | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Tribe: | Camponotini |
| Genus: | Camponotus |
| Species: | C. fragilis |
| Binomial name | |
| Camponotus fragilis Pergande, 1893
| |
This nocturnal species nests in soil, most commonly under a covering object.
Identification
Major worker similar to Camponotus absquatulator in color and stature but erect setae present along entire head margin; minor workers with at least a few setae along head margins; differs from Camponotus festinatus by its smaller size and, in the major worker, by the lack of standing setae on the side of the pronotum.
Distribution
United States, Mexico. Camponotus fragilis occurs over most of the Lower California peninsula as far north on the Gulf of California coast at least to Bahía de los Angeles and northwest into southern California via San Diego County. It is also present on most, if not all, the islands of the Gulf of California and in the State of Sonora and north into Arizona (Tempe, Maricopa Co., the easternmost record) in the United States; from Sonora it ranges south along the coast to Nayarit: specimens that I collected on the Tres Marías Islands apparently are referable to C. fragilis. In California C. fragilis appears to be uncommon and is replaced in the lower desert of Imperial and Riverside Counties by Camponotus absquatulator. It is present in chaparral habitat in San Diego County, north to Riverside County and is found at mid-elevation sites along the margins of the lower desert, extending north into the Mojave Desert at least as far as the Old Woman Mountains (1.2 km S Sunflower Springs, 945 m), San Bernardino County. (Snelling 2006)
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 39.009344° to 20.487868°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States.
Neotropical Region: Mexico (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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Habitat
Creosote Scrub, Coastal Scrub, Chaparral, and Oak Woodland.
Biology
Flight Period
| X | X | ||||||||||
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
Source: antkeeping.info.
- Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.
Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
Castes
Worker
   
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| Worker (minor). . | Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology. |
  
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| Worker (major). . | Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology. |
  
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| Queen. . | Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- fragilis. Camponotus fragilis Pergande, 1893: 26 (s.w.) MEXICO (Baja California Sur).
- Type-material: lectotype major worker (by designation of Snelling, 2006: 89), 1 paralectotype minor worker (“in very poor condition”).
- Type-locality: lectotype Mexico: San Fernando (G. Eisen & C.D. Haines); paralectotype with same data.
- [Note: original type-data: syntype major and minor workers (numbers not stated, “many specimens”), Mexico: Baja California, San José del Cabo, and San Fernando (G. Eisen & C.D. Haines).]
- Type-depositories: USNM (lectotype); CASC (paralectotype) (perhaps also USNM).
- Snelling, R.R. 2006: 91 (q.).
- Combination in C. (Myrmoturba): Forel, 1914a: 267.
- Subspecies of fumidus: Emery, 1895c: 336 (in text); Emery, 1896d: 372 (in list); Forel, 1901c: 135; Wheeler, W.M. 1905b: 134; Wheeler, W.M. 1910d: 315; Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 571; Wheeler, W.M. 1917a: 561; Emery, 1925b: 80; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 843; Kempf, 1972a: 67.
- Junior synonym of festinatus: Snelling, R.R. 1968b: 351; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1428; Snelling, R.R. & George, 1979: 183; Bolton, 1995b: 100.
- Status as species: Forel, 1899c: 133; Forel, 1901e: 371; Snelling, R.R. 2006: 89 (redescription).
- Distribution: Mexico, U.S.A.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Worker
Snelling (2006) – Major. (n=12). Measurements: HL 2.25-2.70; HW 1.95-2.58; EL 0.50-0.60; SL 2.00-2.45; ML 3.10-3.45. Indices: CI 87-96; HFI 87-123; OI 21-25; SI 83-98.
Head shape about as in Camponotus festinatus. Mandible moderately shiny and weakly microreticulate between sparse, mostly round punctures; with six teeth, innermost acute or subtruncate to weakly bifid; usually subtended by a small acute tooth on inner margin.
Cephalic sculpture about as in C. festinatus but a little finer; malar area with only scattered round punctures and longest hairs about 0.1 mm long and absent on posterior one-third to one-half.
Pilosity generally similar to C. festinatus; side of pronotum without standing setae above ventral margin. Standing yellowish setae present on indicated surfaces: dorsal face of scape shaft (7-11), ventral margin of profemur (5-9), pronotum (10-16), mesonotum (5-12), propodeum (6-8), petiole (6-8), disc of gastral tergum I (10-12), premarginal row on gastral tergum I (14-16).
Media and minor. (n=12). Measurements: HL 1.20-1.75; HW 0.90-1.25; EL 0.40-0.45; SL 1.40-2.10; ML 1.85-2.60. Indices: CI 63-79; HFI 158-206; OI 27-45; SI 117-129.
Pilosity similar to C. festinatus with standing yellowish setae present on indicated surfaces: dorsal face of scape shaft (1-4), ventral margin of profemur (2-6), pronotum (4-10), mesonotum (2-6), propodeum (2-4), petiole (4-6), disc of gastral tergum I (6-10), premarginal row on gastral tergum I (6-8).
Queen
Snelling (2006) - (n=7). Measurements: HL 2.20-2.35; HW 2.00-2.15; EL 0.65-0.70; HFL 2.20-2.45; SL 1.90-2.15; PW 1.80-1.95; ML 3.85-4.20. Indices: CI 89-91; HFI 109-119; OI 28-30; SI 86-93.
Similar to queens of C. festinatus but distinctly smaller (ML 3.85-4.20 vs. 4.51-4.92) and malar area with scattered obscure round to slightly elliptical punctures and longest setae about 0.10 mm long (vs. about 0.20 mm); ICD 0.67-0.71 × HW; EL 0.76-0.93 × OMD; IOD 2.85-3.17 and OOD 3.00-3.25 × OD. Differs from queens of C. absquatulator by presence of erect setae along entire head margin.
Type Material
Snelling (2006) - Lectotype, by present designation, major worker. Mexico, Baja California Sur: San Fernando (label reads "San Fernando Mex.") (National Museum of Natural History). A paralectotype minor worker in very poor condition in California Academy of Sciences.
References
- Alatorre-Bracamontes, C.E., Vásquez-Bolaños, M. 2010. Lista comentada de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del norte de México. Dugesiana 17(1): 9-36.
- Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 100, catalogue)
- Emery, C. 1895d. Beiträge zur Kenntniss der nordamerikanischen Ameisenfauna. (Schluss). Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Geogr. Biol. Tiere 8: 257-360 (page 336, variety of fumidus)
- Forel, A. 1914a. Le genre Camponotus Mayr et les genres voisins. Rev. Suisse Zool. 22: 257-276 (page 267, combination in C. (Myrmoturba))
- Lubertazzi, D. 2019. The ants of Hispaniola. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 162(2), 59-210 (doi:10.3099/mcz-43.1).
- Pergande, T. 1893. On a collection of Formicidae from Lower California and Sonora, Mexico. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. (2) 4: 26-36 (page 26, soldier, worker described)
- Snelling, R. R. 1968b. Studies on California ants. 4. Two species of Camponotus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 70: 350-358 (page 351, junior synonym of festinatus)
- Snelling, R. R. 2006. Taxonomy of the Camponotus festinatus complex in the United States of America (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten. 8:83-97.
- Varela-Hernández, F., Medel-Zosayas, B., Martínez-Luque, E.O., Jones, R.W., De la Mora, A. 2020. Biodiversity in central Mexico: Assessment of ants in a convergent region. Southwestern Entomologist 454: 673-686.
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Cover S. P., and R. A. Johnson. 20011. Checklist of Arizona Ants. Downloaded on January 7th at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/AZants-2011%20updatev2.pdf
- Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
- 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
- Johnson R. Personnal Database. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/resources.htm
- Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
- Miguelena J. G., and P. B. Baker. 2019. Effects of urbanization on the diversity, abundance, and composition of ant assemblages in an arid city. Environmental Entomology doi: 10.1093/ee/nvz069.
- Snelling R. R. 2006. Taxonomy of the Camponotus festinatus complex in the United States of America (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8: 83-97
- Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
- Wheeler W. M. 1905. The ants of the Bahamas, with a list of the known West Indian species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 21: 79-135.
- 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. 1917. The mountain ants of western North America. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 52: 457-569.