Camponotus prostans

Camponotus prostans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Species:	C. prostans
Binomial name
Camponotus prostans Forel, 1910 Specimen Labels

Mainly confined to the south-west and southern portions of the SWBP, but has been recorded as far afield as the Gibson Nature Reserve, well to the NE of the SWBP.

Photo Gallery

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  Camponotus prostans is a large, nocturnal species. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 23 April 2011 in Gnowangerup, Western Australia.

Identification

Camponotus prostans and Camponotus dryandrae are very difficult to separate on morphological characters alone. The only reliable feature is the reduced number of setae found on the venter of the head capsule in C. prostans, a feature that requires examination through a microscope. However, in the field their rich reddish- or yellowish-brown-and-black colouration separates most workers of C. dryandrae from the more sober, uniformly blackish or brown-and-black C. prostans.

McArthur and Adams (1996) - Camponotus prostans possesses a few setae on the gula, and is distinguished from Western Australian Camponotus longideclivis and eastern Australian Camponotus consobrinus by the absence of seta on the gula in the latter two species. In dorsal view, the heads of the largest major workers in C. prostans appear circular, as a consequence of HW being greater than HL.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Camponotus majors of the southwestern Botanical Province
• Key to Australian Camponotus minors of the southwestern Botanical Province
• Key to Australian Camponotus species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -24.96535° to -31.9°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

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

Farhan Bokhari noted an interesting behaviour of these ants. He observed a few workers guarding a nearby Iridomyrmex conifer nest mound, made of sticks and stones, and attacking any Iridomyrmex workers that came out. The larger Camponotus would grab the smaller day-active Iridomyrmex in their mandibles and proceed to spray formic acid on them from their acidopores. The Iridomyrmex workers would then die in a few seconds. It is presumed this behaviour serves to suppress competition and allows these ants more time to forage.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0280200. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by PSWC, Philip S. Ward Collection.

Syntype of Camponotus prostans. Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0910311. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Syntype of Camponotus prostans. Worker. Specimen code casent0910312. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

• prostans. Camponotus nigriceps subsp. prostans Forel, 1910b: 72.
  • [First available use of Camponotus nigriceps subsp. obnigra var. prostans Forel, 1907h: 301 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australlia); unavailable (infrasubspecific) name (Taylor, 1986: 34).]
  • Type-material: syntype minor workers, syntype queens (numbers not stated).
  • [Note: McArthur & Adams, 1996: 40, cite “1 major worker, 1 minor worker, many cotypes” MHNG.]
  • Type-localities: Australia: Western Australia, Stat. 99, Lion Mill, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer), Western Australia, Stat. 129, Jarrahdale, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer), Western Australia, Stat. 138, Lununberg, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer), Western Australia, Stat. 154, Pickering Brook, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer), Western Australia, Stat. 162, Torbay, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer), Western Australia, Stat. 164, NE Albany, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Crawley, 1922b: 428.
  • Subspecies of nigriceps: Emery, 1925b: 103.
  • Junior synonym of lividipes: Wheeler, W.M. 1933b: 23; Clark, 1934c: 71; Bolton, 1995b: 118.
  • Status as species: Taylor, 1987a: 14; McArthur & Adams, 1996: 40; McArthur, 2007a: 308; Heterick, 2009: 63; McArthur, 2014: 94.
  • Distribution: Australia.

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

Description

Worker

Length. 6.8-10.5 mm. Smaller than the subspecies obniger coming from South Australia, quite black or brownish black with pale yellow legs; mandibles, clypeus and flagellum brownish red. Somewhat more glossy than the sub species type and with somewhat longer and richer pubescence especially on the limbs.

McArthur and Adams (1996) - Colour: head black to dark brown; mesosoma colour ranges from black all over to reddish brown all over, some specimens with combinations of above colours; legs lighter, often yellowish; posterior gaster black or dark brown, anterior gaster colour similar to posterior gaster or like most of mesosoma. Pilosity: up to 0.5 mm long plentiful on pronotum and mesonotum with 2-8 on or propodeum (Fig · 31a,b), sparse and shorter on gula sometimes obsolete, plentiful on gaster pointing backwards, short setae on scapes raised to 30°, short setae on midtibiae 20-40°. Pubescence: a coat of suberect setae about 0.1 mm long, spaced < length, usually whitish, visible with transmitted light on the dorsum of mesosoma; adpressed and sparse on head. Integument finely reticulate, glossy. Node summit viewed from rear: conkvex or flat in major workers, convex in other workers. Metanotum usually distinct in major workers.

HW = 1.80-3.5 mm; HL = 2.30-3.45 mm; TL = 2·60-3.00 mm; n = 20. TL = 1.89 + 2.22 log HW (n = 11, r = 0.95, s.e.(y) = 0.17, s.e.(x) = 0.04). PD:D = 2.0 in major workers increasing to 3.0 in minor workers. HW:HL = often reaches 1.05 in major workers where HW > 3.4 mm.

Queen

Length. 15-17 mm. Same color as the worker. Pubescence more ample than the type. Wings weak somewhat stockier in proportion than the type.The clypeus has the exact form of the type. The worker from Lion Mill has above all more upstanding hair and also much stronger spines on the legs.

Type Material

• Camponotus nigriceps prostans Forel, 1910: Syntype, worker(s), Mount Helena (as Lion Mill), Jarrahdale, Lunenberg, Pickering Brook, Torbay and north of Albany, WA, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
• Camponotus nigriceps prostans Forel, 1910: Syntype, 1 worker, Mount Helena (as Lion Mill), Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.

Etymology

McArthur and Adams (1996) - Presumed from porost (Latin: outstanding) as the colour of the subspecies type is much darker than that of the type, C. nigriceps.

References

• Clark, J. 1934c. Ants from the Otway Ranges. Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 8: 48-73 (page 71, Junior synonym of lividipes)
• Forel, A. 1910b. Formicides australiens reçus de MM. Froggatt et Rowland Turner. Rev. Suisse Zool. 18: 1-94 (page 72, worker, queen 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).
• McArthur, A. J. and M. Adams. 1996. A morphological and molecular revision of the Camponotus nigriceps group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Australia. Invertebrate Taxonomy. 10:1-46. (page 40, Revived from synonymy, and raised to species)
• Taylor, R. W. 1987a. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO Div. Entomol. Rep. 41: 1-92 (page 14, Revived from synonymy, and raised to species)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1933b. Mermis parasitism in some Australian and Mexican ants. Psyche (Camb.) 40: 20-31 (page 23, Junior synonym of lividipes)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Gunawardene N.R. and J.D. Majer. 2004. Ants of the southern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: an investigation into patterns of association. Records of the Western Australian Museum 22: 219-239.
• McArthur A. J., and M. Adams. 1996. A morphological and molecular revision of the Camponotus nigriceps group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Australia. Invertebr. Taxon. 10: 1-46.