Camponotus semitestaceus

Camponotus semitestaceus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Species:	C. semitestaceus
Binomial name
	Camponotus semitestaceus; Snelling, R.R., 1970 Specimen labels

Nests are found under stones or in the soil, surrounded by a small mound (few cms up to 30 cms in diameter). The colonies are large with many majors. Workers are active during the night or during cooler times of the day, and tend Homoptera. Nest density can be very high. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Identification

Photo Gallery

Queen from Ramsey Canyon, Arizona. Photo by Gary D. Alpert.

Distribution

Western United States as far east as Oklahoma, south to northern Mexico.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 47.033333° to 18.883891°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

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.

Habitat

Pinyon juniper forests.

Biology

In New Mexico (Mackay and Mackay 2002) brood was found in a nest in May; reproductives were found in nests in September. The scarabaeid beetle Cremastocheilus planatus and the ant cricket Myrmecophilus oregonensis occur in nests.

Nevada, Wheeler and Wheeler (1986) - We have 90 records from 67 localities, all but 1 of which are south of the 40th Parallel; 3,000-7,700 ft. Seventeen records were in the Cool Desert (1 in a Sarcobatus Subclimax, 1 in a cottonwood grove, 2 in buildings, 1 in a fence post, 1 among roots of a plant); 41 were in the Pinyon-Juniper Biome. Eighteen nests were under stones, 8 in exposed soil with craters 5-20 cm in diameter, 12 exposed and surmounted by irregular piles of soil, 2 in rotten wood. Entrances were large (10 mm in diameter). Larvae of Pseudomorpha sp. (Coleoptera: Carabidae; det. T.L. Erwin) were in nests. A pupa of Coniontis sp. was found in a nest. Araeoschizus armatus Hom (both Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae; det. T.J. Spilman).

Flight Period

		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


.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Nomenclature

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

semitestaceus. Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) semitestaceus Snelling, R.R. 1970: 396.
- [First available use of Camponotus maculatus subsp. vicinus var. semitestaceus Emery, 1893i: 672 (w.) U.S.A. (California); unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
- As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1896d: 371 (in list); Wheeler, W.M. 1910d: 304; Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 571; Wheeler, W.M. 1917a: 559; Emery, 1925b: 75; Essig, 1926: 868; Creighton, 1950a: 377; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 842.
- Material referred to maccooki by Creighton, 1950a: 377; Smith, M.R. 1958c: 144.
- Status as species: Hunt & Snelling, 1975: 22; Yensen, et al. 1977: 184; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1429; Snelling, R.R. & George, 1979: 191; Allred, 1982: 457; Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1986g: 63; Mackay, Lowrie, et al. 1988: 106; Bolton, 1995b: 123; Mackay & Mackay, 2002: 307; Hansen & Klotz, 2005: 97; Ward, 2005: 63.

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

Description

Type Material

Wheeler (1910) - Described by Emery from a couple of workers from Plummer County, Calif., 5000 ft. (Theo. Pergande).

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.
Emery, C. 1893k. Beiträge zur Kenntniss der nordamerikanischen Ameisenfauna. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Geogr. Biol. Tiere 7: 633-682 (page 672, First available use of Camponotus maculatus subsp. vicinus var. semitestaceus; unavailable name)
Mackay, W. P. and E. Mackay. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY.
Oswalt, D.A. 2007. Nesting and foraging characteristics of the black carpenter ant Camponotus pennsylvanicus DeGeer (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ph.D. thesis, Clemson University.
Snelling, R. R. 1970. Studies on California ants, 5. Revisionary notes on some species of Camponotus, subgenus Tanaemyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 72: 390-397 (page 396, worker described)
Wheeler, G. C. and J. Wheeler. 1986. The ants of Nevada. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Allred D. M. 1982. Ants of Utah. The Great Basin Naturalist 42: 415-511.
Allred, D.M. 1982. The ants of Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 42:415-511.
Boulton A. M., Davies K. F. and Ward P. S. 2005. Species richness, abundance, and composition of ground-dwelling ants in northern California grasslands: role of plants, soil, and grazing. Environmental Entomology 34: 96-104
Cokendolpher J. C., and O. F. Francke. 1990. The ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of western Texas. Part II. Subfamilies Ecitoninae, Ponerinae, Pseudomyrmecinae, Dolichoderinae, and Formicinae. Special Publications, the Museum. Texas Tech University 30:1-76.
Cokendolpher J.C., Reddell J.R., Taylor S.J, Krejca J.K., Suarez A.V. and Pekins C.E. 2009. Further ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from caves of Texas [Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicdae) adicionales de cuevas de Texas]. Texas Memorial Museum Speleological Monographs, 7. Studies on the cave and endogean fauna of North America, V. Pp. 151-168
Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
Des Lauriers J., and D. Ikeda. 2017. The ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, USA with an annotated list. In: Reynolds R. E. (Ed.) Desert Studies Symposium. California State University Desert Studies Consortium, 342 pp. Pages 264-277.
Fisher B. L. 1997. A comparison of ant assemblages (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) on serpentine and non-serpentine soils in northern California. Insectes Sociaux 44: 23-33
Hoey-Chamberlain R. V., L. D. Hansen, J. H. Klotz and C. McNeeley. 2010. A survey of the ants of Washington and Surrounding areas in Idaho and Oregon focusing on disturbed sites (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology. 56: 195-207
Holway D.A. 1998. Effect of Argentine ant invasions on ground-dwelling arthropods in northern California riparian woodlands. Oecologia. 116: 252-258
Johnson R. Personnal Database. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/resources.htm
Johnson, R.A. and P.S. Ward. 2002. Biogeography and endemism of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Baja California, Mexico: a first overview. Journal of Biogeography 29:10091026/
Longino, J.T. 2010. Personal Communication. Longino Collection Database
MacGown J. A., T. L. Schiefer, and M. G. Branstetter. 2015. First record of the genus Leptanilloides (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dorylinae) from the United States. Zootaxa 4006 (2): 392–400.
Mackay W. P., and E. E. Mackay. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 400 pp.
Mackay, W., D. Lowrie, A. Fisher, E. Mackay, F. Barnes and D. Lowrie. 1988. The ants of Los Alamos County, New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). pages 79-131 in J.C. Trager, editor, Advances in Myrmecololgy.
Mallis A. 1941. A list of the ants of California with notes on their habits and distribution. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 40: 61-100.
Matsuda T., G. Turschak, C. Brehme, C. Rochester, M. Mitrovich, and R. Fisher. 2011. Effects of Large-Scale Wildfires on Ground Foraging Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Southern California. Environmental Entomology 40(2): 204-216.
O'Keefe S. T., J. L. Cook, T. Dudek, D. F. Wunneburger, M. D. Guzman, R. N. Coulson, and S. B. Vinson. 2000. The Distribution of Texas Ants. The Southwestern Entomologist 22: 1-92.
Reddell J. R., and J. C. Cokendolpher. 2001. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from caves of Belize, Mexico, and California and Texas (U.S.A.) Texas. Texas Memorial Museum Speleological Monographs 5: 129-154.
Roeder K. A., and D. V. Roeder. 2016. A checklist and assemblage comparison of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Check List 12(4): 1935.
Snelling R. R. 1970. Studies on California ants, 5. Revisionary notes on some species of Camponotus, subgenus Tanaemyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 72: 390-397.
Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
Ward P. S. 1987. Distribution of the introduced Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis) in natural habitats of the lower Sacramento Valley and its effects on the indigenous ant fauna. Hilgardia 55: 1-16
Wetterer, J. K.; Ward, P. S.; Wetterer, A. L.; Longino, J. T.; Trager, J. C.; Miller, S. E. 2000. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Santa Cruz Island, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 99:25-31.
Wetterer, J.K., P.S. Ward, A.L. Wetterer, J.T. Longino, J.C. Trager and S.E. Miller. 2000. Ants (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) of Santa Cruz Island, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Science 99(1):25-31.
Wheeler G. C., and J. Wheeler J. 1989. A checklist of the ants of Oklahoma. Prairie Naturalist 21: 203-210.
Wheeler G. C., and J. Wheeler. 1986. The ants of Nevada. Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, vii + 138 pp.
Wheeler W. M. 1917. The mountain ants of western North America. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 52: 457-569.
Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1985. A checklist of Texas ants. Prairie Naturalist 17:49-64.
Young, J. and D.E. Howell. 1964. Ants of Oklahoma. Miscellaneous Publications of Oklahoma State University MP-71