Camponotus laconicus

Camponotus laconicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Subgenus:	Tanaemyrmex
Species complex:	samius
Species:	C. laconicus
Binomial name
	Camponotus laconicus; Emery, 1920 Specimen Labels

Camponotus laconicus is a rare, thermophilous species, mostly recorded from warm, dry pine forests, and is endemic to Greece. It is also occasionally collected from Mediterranean shrubs along roadsides, stream valleys or gorges with plane trees. Nests are always under large stones, often on the sunny and arid edges of forests as well as in urban areas and on sunny roadsides inside mixed and fir forests (Borowiec & Salata, 2021). Workers are active mainly at dawn.

Identification

A member of the Camponotus samius species complex (Tanaemyrmex).

Salata et al. (2020) - Hind tibia and scape with decumbent to suberect pilosity but without additional erect setae; gena with numerous erect setae; mesosoma, head, and gaster in major and minor workers uniformly black; sometimes legs in minor workers partly reddish brown; gaster in major and minor workers without brighter colouration on its basal part; pilosity on gaster sparse and thin, distance between microsetae is equal to full lengths of microsetae, erect setae very dense; petiolar squama in major workers stout with distinctly convex anterior surface, in minor workers triangular in profile.

Keys including this Species

Key to Camponotus samius species complex

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 38.62406° to 35.270116°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Greece (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

Worker

Salata, Khalili-Moghadam & Borowiec 2020. Figures 22-23. Camponotus laconicus 22: major worker; 23: minor worker.

Salata, Khalili-Moghadam & Borowiec 2020. Figures 13-14. Camponotus laconicus 13: major worker; 14: minor worker; scale bars = 2mm.

Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, and Borowiec 2020. Figure 10. Petiolar scale.

Nomenclature

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

laconicus. Camponotus (Myrmoturba) samius var. laconicus Emery, 1920c: 6.
- [First available use of Camponotus maculatus subsp. samius var. laconica Emery, 1908a: 192 (s.w.) GREECE; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
- Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 100.
- As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Forel, 1911d: 359.
- Junior synonym of festai: Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 138 (error).
- Subspecies of samius: Emery, 1925b: 100.
- Status as species: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 58; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 284 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 107; Petrov, 2006: 109 (in key); Legakis, 2011: 31; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 477; Borowiec, L. 2014: 35; Lebas, et al. 2016: 154; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 44.

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

Description

Type Material

Salata et al. (2020) - Syntype major and minor workers, Taygetos, Kambos, Greece, v.1901, coll. Holz (Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève). Syntype major and minor workers images examined, AntWeb, CASENT0905288 and CASENT0905289, photos by Will Ericson.

References

Agosti, D.; Collingwood, C. A. 1987a. A provisional list of the Balkan ants (Hym. Formicidae) and a key to the worker caste. I. Synonymic list. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 60: 51-62 (page 58, Raised to species)
Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Borowiec, L., Salata, S. 2021. Notes on ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Western Greece. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 30: 1-23 (doi:10.5281/ZENODO.5571258).
Borowiec, L., Salata, S. 2022. A monographic review of ants of Greece (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Vol. 1. Introduction and review of all subfamilies except the subfamily Myrmicinae. Part 1: text. Natural History Monographs of the Upper Silesian Museum 1: 1-297.
Emery, C. 1920d. Studi sui Camponotus. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 52: 3-48 (page 6, soldier, worker described)
Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 100, Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex))
Salata, S., Khalili-Moghadam, A., Borowiec, L. 2020. Review of the Camponotus samius complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Turano-Balkan region, with the description of a new species from Iran. Zootaxa 4763(4): 545–562 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4763.4.5).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Agosti, D. and C.A. Collingwood. 1987. A provisional list of the Balkan ants (Hym. Formicidae) and a key to the worker caste. I. Synonymic list. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 60: 51-62
Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2017. Ants of the Peloponnese, Greece (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Polish Journal of Entomology 86: 193-236.
Forel A. 1911. Fourmis nouvelles ou intéressantes. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 47: 331-400.
Legakis Collection Database
Salata S., and L Borowiec. 2017. Species of Tetramorium semilaeve complex from Balkans and western Turkey, with description of two new species of (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 62:279–313.
Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2019. Preliminary division of not socially parasitic Greek Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) with a description of three new species. ZooKeys 877: 81-131.