Camponotus irritabilis

Camponotus irritabilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Species:	C. irritabilis
Binomial name
	Camponotus irritabilis; (Smith, F., 1857) Specimen Labels
Subspecies
	Camponotus irritabilis winkleri Forel, 1911;

This species and its New World congener Camponotus femoratus have a reputation as some of the world's most aggressive ant species. Their mandibles can readily break the skin of an unwary or unlucky myrmecologist, and the ants add to this discomfort by spraying the cut with formic acid. An individual doing this is annoying. These ants though attack en mass and can deliver many such bites at once.

At a Glance

• Ant garden

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 2.547988° to -2.183333°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo (type locality), Indonesia, Malaysia.

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

Weissflog et al. 2017. Figure 4. Camponotus irritabilis harvesting seed of Hoya elliptica.

Weissflog et al (2017) - Camponotus irritabilis and Hoya elliptica (Apocynaceae) are very closely associated in ant gardens in Malaya and Sumatra. Ants and epiphyte partners have some characteristics that make them especially suitable for this association: The ants selectively retrieve the seeds of their epiphyte partners, and they fertilize their carton nests on which the plants are growing. In comparison to non-myrmecophytic Hoya coriacea, Hoya elliptica performs an extensive root growth as long as growing on moist substrate. The roots stabilize the ants’ nests and anchor them to the host tree. Camponotus irritabilis initiate ant gardens by constructing carton buildings on branches, which serve as substrate for incorporated seeds and climbing parts of already established Hoya elliptica. Camponotus irritabilis influence actively the available chamber size within their nests, by biting off roots, fertilizing only certain parts of the nests and retrieving seeds into the ‘growing zone’ of the nest building. Ants thereby prevent uninhibited, space-consuming root growth but influence stability and architecture of the ant garden by guiding the spread out of the roots. As additional partners of the ant garden system, trophobionts, undetermined fungi on the inner nest substrate, several parabiotic Crematogaster spp. and a probably lestobiotic Solenopsis sp. were found. Similarity in genus composition of the three co-occurring ants, as well as behaviors of Camponotus irritabilis, degree of the mutual benefits with the epiphytes and phenology of this ant garden association might represent a remarkable case of convergence with neotropical ant gardens.

Weissflog, Kaufmann and Maschwitz, 2017. Drawing by Winfried Noll.

Others commenting on ant gardens in this species include Campbell et al. (2022) and Menzel & Blüthgen (2010).

Castes

Images from AntWeb


Holotype of Camponotus irritabilis. Worker. Specimen code casent0901901. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by OUM, Oxford, UK.

Nomenclature

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

irritabilis. Formica irritabilis Smith, F. 1857a: 56 (w.) BORNEO (East Malaysia: Sarawak).
- Combination in Camponotus: Roger, 1863b: 3;
- combination in C. (Myrmotarsus): Forel, 1912i: 92.
- Status as species: Smith, F. 1858b: 25; Mayr, 1863: 416; Roger, 1863b: 3; Smith, F. 1871a: 305; Mayr, 1879: 648; Forel, 1886f: 172; Dalla Torre, 1893: 236; Emery, 1896d: 375 (in list); Emery, 1900d: 705; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 110; Emery, 1925b: 134; Donisthorpe, 1932c: 444; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 239; Bolton, 1995b: 105; Pfeiffer, et al. 2011: 37.
- Current subspecies: nominal plus winkleri.

The following notes on F. Smith type specimens have been provided by Barry Bolton (details):

Formica irritabilis

Holotype worker in Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Labelled “SAR 7.”

Description

References

Campbell, L.C.E., Kiers, E.T., Chomicki, G. 2022. The evolution of plant cultivation by ants. Trends in Plant Science (doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2022.09.005).
Forel, A. 1912j. Formicides néotropiques. Part VI. 5me sous-famille Camponotinae Forel. Mém. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 20: 59-92 (page 92, Combination in C. (Myrmotarsus))
Khachonpisitsak, S., Yamane, S., Sriwichai, P., Jaitrong, W. 2020. An updated checklist of the ants of Thailand (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 998, 1–182 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.998.54902).
Menzel, F., Blüthgen, N. 2010. Parabiotic associations between tropical ants: Equal partnership or parasitic exploitation? J. Anim. Ecol. 79: 71–81.
Roger, J. 1863b. Verzeichniss der Formiciden-Gattungen und Arten. Berl. Entomol. Z. 7(B Beilage: 1-65 (page 3, Combination in Camponotus)
Smith, F. 1857a. Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects collected at Sarawak, Borneo; Mount Ophir, Malacca; and at Singapore, by A. R. Wallace. [part]. J. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. 2: 42-88 (page 56, worker described)
Weissflog, A., Kaufmann, E., Maschwitz, U. 2017. Ant gardens of Camponotus (Myrmotarsus) irritabilis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) and Hoya elliptica (Apocynaceae) in Southeast Asia. Asian Myrmecology 9: e009001:1-16 (doi:10.20362/am.009001 10.20362/am.009001).
Yamane, S., Tanaka, H.O., Hasimoto, Y., Ohashi, M., Meleng, P., Itioka, T. 2021. A list of ants from Lambir Hills National Park and its vicinity, with their biological information: Part II. Subfamilies Leptanillinae, Proceratiinae, Amblyoponinae, Ponerinae, Dorylinae, Dolichoderinae, Ectatomminae and Formicinae. Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University 31, 87–157.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
Emery, C.. "Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genova) (2) 20, no. 40 (1900): 661-722.
Forel A. 1886. Études myrmécologiques en 1886.. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 30: 131-215.
Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
Philpott S.M., P. Bichier, R.A. Rice, and R. Greenberg. 2008. Biodiversity conservation, yield, and alternative products in coffee agroecosystems in Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodivers. Conserv. 17: 1805-1820. Data obtained from Stacy Philpott
Smith, F.. "Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects collected at Sarawak, Borneo; Mount Ophir, Malacca; and at Singapore, by A. R. Wallace." Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 2 (1857): 42-88.
Wheeler W. M. 1919. The ants of Borneo. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 63:43-147.