Camponotus scratius

Camponotus scratius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Species:	C. scratius
Binomial name
	Camponotus scratius; Forel, 1907 Specimen Labels
Subspecies
	Camponotus scratius nuntius Forel, 1907;
Synonyms
	Camponotus samueli McArthur, 2008;

Very small, minor workers of C. scratius are among the smallest Camponotus in Australia (Heterick 2009).

Identification

Heterick (2009) - Camponotus scratius and Camponotus insipidus (as C. minimus) are both common, and, being very similar in appearance, are easily confused. Both major and minor workers, however, can be distinguished by the presence (C. scratius) or absence (C. insipidus) of setae on the venter of the head capsule.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - Wide range in coastal WA. In the lower south-west, C. insipidus (as C. claripes minimus) is found in both coastal and inland regions.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -23.7° to -36.08333333°.


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

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb


Syntype of Camponotus scratius. Worker. Specimen code casent0910400. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.


Paratype of Camponotus samueli. Worker. Specimen code casent0915770. Photographer Harald Bruckner, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMW, Vienna, Austria.

Nomenclature

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

scratius. Camponotus scratius Forel, 1907h: 304 (s.w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: syntype major and minor workers, syntype queens (numbers not stated).
- Type-localities: Australia: Western Australia, Stat. 114, Buckland Hill, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer), Western Australia, Stat. 118, Freemantle, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer).
- Type-depositories: ANIC, MHNG.
- Combination in C. (Myrmophyma): Forel, 1914a: 269;
- combination in C. (Thlipsepinotus): Santschi, 1928e: 483.
- Status as species: Emery, 1925b: 112; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 119; Taylor, 1987a: 14; Bolton, 1995b: 123; McArthur, 2007a: 333; Heterick, 2009: 68; McArthur, 2010: 76; McArthur, 2014: 58.
- Senior synonym of samueli: Heterick, 2021: 6.
- Distribution: Australia.
- Current subspecies: nominal plus nuntius.
samueli. Camponotus samueli McArthur, 2008: 124, figs. (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
- Type-material: holotype minor worker, 3 paratype minor workers.
- Type-locality: holotype Australia: South Australia, Ngarkat Conservation Park, 35°38’S, 140°47’E, 20.iii.-15.iii [sic].2003, site F, pitfalls (A.J. McArthur); paratypes with same data.
- Type-depositories: SAMA (holotype); ANIC, NHMW, SAMA (paratypes).
- Status as species: McArthur, 2010: 74; McArthur, 2014: 58.
- Junior synonym of scratius: Heterick, 2021: 6.

Type Material

Camponotus scratius: Syntype, worker(s), Buckland Hill and Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
Camponotus scratius: Syntype, 4 workers (2 badly damaged), Buckland Hill and Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
Camponotus scratius: Syntype, 1 worker, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.
Camponotus samueli: Holotype, worker, Ngarkat Conservation Park, 35°38'S 140°47'E, South Australia, Australia, 35°38′0″S 140°47′0″E / 35.633333°S 140.783333°E / -35.633333; 140.783333, South Australian Museum.
Camponotus samueli: Paratype, 3 workers, Ngarkat Conservation Park, 35°38'S 140°47'E, South Australia, Australia, 35°38′0″S 140°47′0″E / 35.633333°S 140.783333°E / -35.633333; 140.783333, McArthur,A.J., ANIC32-053431, Australian National Insect Collection.
Camponotus samueli: Paratype, 1 worker, Ngarkat Conservation Park, 35°45'S 140°25'E, South Australia, Australia, 35°45′0″S 140°25′0″E / 35.75°S 140.416667°E / -35.75; 140.416667, Australian National Insect Collection.
Camponotus samueli: Paratype, 3 workers, Ngarkat Conservation Park, 35°38'S 140°47'E, South Australia, Australia, 35°38′0″S 140°47′0″E / 35.633333°S 140.783333°E / -35.633333; 140.783333, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna.
Camponotus samueli: Paratype, 3 workers, Ngarkat Conservation Park, 35°38'S 140°47'E, South Australia, Australia, 35°38′0″S 140°47′0″E / 35.633333°S 140.783333°E / -35.633333; 140.783333, South Australian Museum.

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

Description

Worker major. Length 5.3-6.5 mm.. Mandibles 7 teeth, rather weakly curved, very finely and thickly punctate reticulate, with many scattered shallow punctations; they are big with moderately convex outer edge. Clypeus anterior with a narrow, half rectangular, half arc-shaped anterior edge; in the middle posterior with a feeble carina. Frontal area diamond shaped. Frontal carinae very strongly divergent. Head somewhat broader than long, posterior wider than anterior, with very strong convex sides, posterior somewhat gently rounded. Eyes flat. The scape not quite or scarcely reaches the posterior border. Mesometanotal suture not sharp. Pronotum not margined; but the whole dorsum of the thorax somewhat flattened, only weakly domed transversely as well as longitudinally, viewed from above similar to michaelseni, almost like an isosceles triangle. Yet the triangle has no apex, as the basal surface of the metanotum (= propodeum) possesses a short posterior edge. Sloping surface, steep, high, but still shorter than the base surface and the mesonotum taken together, joining into the base surface by a short sharp curve. Node thin, rather wide, above sharp edged. Gaster very big, anterior vertical. Thighs somewhat thickened towards the base; limbs short.

Sculpture and pilosity as with michaelseni, but the flat lying hair covering, although very short and scattered is more distinct on the body and more upstanding hair on the clypeus. Brown; Mandibles, cheeks, anterior border of the clypeus and tarses reddish. Posterior edge of the gaster and legs bright yellow, antennae reddish yellow. Often the head and thorax are yellow brown or brown yellow.

Worker minor. Length 2.8-3.1 mm. Mandibles glossy,but narrower and more weakly punctate, clypeus very strongly projecting arc shaped anterior lobe, weakly carined in the middle. Head long rectangular, a good 1.25times longer than wide, posterior somewhat wider than anterior, with only weakly convex sides. Posterior edge very weakly convex. Eyes big and rather flat. The scape protrudes over the posterior border of the head by over 1/3 of its length. Thorax similar to the worker major, but the metanotum (= pronotum) is much narrower, almost blunt, and forms from front to back a single strong convex curve, without a boundary between the basal surface and the declivity. Everything else is similar to the major worker, but the antennae, the tarses and almost all the anterior half of the head yellow, the rest of the limbs pale yellow. Sometimes head and thorax are partly or completely brownish yellow.

Queen. Length 7.5 mm. Similar to the worker major, but head is more trapeze shaped. The scape exactly protrudes over the posterior border of the head. Basal surface of the metanotum (= pronotum)very short scarcely half as long as the declivity, rather sharply separated from it. Node thin, with sharp, summit pointed. Wings almost water bright, lightly tinted with brown, with bright brown ribs and edges. Almost everything is similar to the worker major. Station 114, Buckland Hill; Station 118, Fremantle, Kirchhof.

This small species is really odd, the difference between the minor and major worker is most distinct. Transition forms between the two have not been collected.

References

Forel, A. 1907j. Formicidae. In: Michaelsen, W., Hartmeyer, R. (eds.) Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Band I, Lieferung 7. Jena: Gustav Fischer, pp. 263-310. (page 304, soldier, worker, queen described)
Forel, A. 1914a. Le genre Camponotus Mayr et les genres voisins. Rev. Suisse Zool. 22: 257-276 (page 269, Combination in C. (Myrmophyma))
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).
Majer, J.D., Castalanelli, M.A., Ledger, J.L., Gunawardene, N.R., Heterick, B.E. 2018. Sequencing the ant fauna of a small island: Can metagenomic analysis enable faster identification for routine ant surveys? Sociobiology 65, 422-432 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v65i3.2885).
Santschi, F. 1928e. Nouvelles fourmis d'Australie. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 56: 465-483 (page 483, Combination in C. (Thlipsepinotus))

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Bisevac L., and J. D. Majer. 1999. Comparative study of ant communities of rehabilitated mineral sand mines and heathland, Western Australia. Restoration Ecology 7(2): 117-126.
Heterick B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 76: 1-206.
Majer J. D., S. K. Callan, K. Edwards, N. R. Gunawardene, and C. K. Taylor. 2013. Baseline survey of the terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Barrow Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 83: 13-112.
McArthur A. J. 2008. New species of Camponotus (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Australia. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. B, Botanik, Zoologie 109: 111-129.