Colobopsis leonardi

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Colobopsis leonardi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Colobopsis
Species: C. leonardi
Binomial name
Colobopsis leonardi
(Emery, 1889)

Camponotus leonardi casent0901895 p 1 high.jpg

Camponotus leonardi casent0901895 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Subspecies
Synonyms

This is a dominant species that forms large colonies in the canopy of trees. It is a member of the Colobopsis cylindrica group, a set of species that employ a novel defensive strategy. Minor workers of these so called exploding ants will, when threatened, flex their gasters so hard that they rupture. This releases a toxic chemical mixture that they then attempt to smear on their antagonists.

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 22.88333333° to -7.206667°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore.
Oriental Region: India, Laos, Myanmar (type locality), Thailand.
Palaearctic Region: China.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Biology

Zettel et al. 2018. Figure 1.
Zettel et al. 2018. Figure 3.

A study by Zettel et al., (2018), in southern Thailand (Khao Chong Botanical Garden, Trang Province), provided insight into the diet of this species. This field study showed that ants from the Colobobopsis cylinderica group (the exploding ants) do in fact prey on and forage for animal prey. This novel finding dispels the previous suggestion that this group of ants may not forage at all for solid food.

The studied colony was found in a fallen branch (Figure 1) of a rambutan tree (Nephelium lappaceum L., Sapindaceae). Presumably this was an arboreal nest that had fallen from the tree, but it was not clear if this was the entire colony or one of a number of nests. The branch had a total length of more than five metres and a width of about 20 cm. Nest entrances were distributed along the branch. Entrances were one or two closely positioned holes with a diameter of ca 3–5 mm. A trail between two entrances was used by foraging workers continuously and in high frequency in both directions, constituting the majority of the observed worker activity. On the morning of June 6 (2016), various termite species offered along this trail were taken by workers. These were killed by a single forager and carried away. Other insects and woodlice offered along the ant trail were also carried to the nest, with some cut into fragments before transport or only their liquid or soft inner parts consumed or carried, respectively. Pieces of earthworms were accepted as well. All of these prey items were collected from around the nesting area. No instances of suicidal defensive behaviour (autothysis) were recorded during the experiments. All small prey items were taken up with the mandibles, lifted and brought to the nest entrance by single workers. Cooperation for dragging larger items was never observed. In contrast, the transport of medium-sized items, which could be dragged but not lifted by a single worker was slowed down or made almost impossible by further workers. In one instance, a single worker tried to drag the remains of a beetle pupa to the nest, but was hindered to do so for more than 20 minutes by other workers who tried to do the same. Only when the activity on the trail became low, the worker brought the item into the nest.

Photo © Vladimir Zryanin

Association with Other Organisms

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  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps camponoti-leonardi (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps camponoti-leonardi (a pathogen) (Andersen, Ferrari et al., 2012; Andersen, Hughes et al., 2012; Araujo et al., 2018; Shrestha et al., 2017).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps camponoti-saundersi (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps formicarum (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps formicarum (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

Castes

Camponotus-leonardiH3.2x.jpgCamponotus-leonardiL2x.jpgCamponotus-leonardiD2x.jpgCamponotus-leonardiLabel.jpg
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Camponotus leonardi casent0905467 d 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0905467 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0905467 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0905467 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Camponotus leonardi. Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0905467. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.
Camponotus leonardi casent0905468 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0905468 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0905468 d 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0905468 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Camponotus leonardi. Worker. Specimen code casent0905468. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.
Camponotus leonardi casent0911627 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0911627 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus leonardi casent0911627 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Camponotus leonardi griseus. Worker. Specimen code casent0911627. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMB, Basel, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

  • pilosa. Formica pilosa Smith, F. 1857a: 54 (w.) BORNEO (East Malaysia: Sarawak).
    • Type-material: syntype worker(s) (number not stated).
    • [Note: Donisthorpe, 1932c: 443, cites 2w syntypes OXUM (confirmed by Bolton unpublished notes 1978).]
    • Type-locality: Malaysia: Borneo, Sarawak, “Sar. 26” (A.R. Wallace).
    • Type-depository: OXUM.
    • [Junior primary homonym of Formica pilosa Olivier, 1792: 498 (Emery, 1921a: 25).]
    • Combination in Colobopsis: Mayr, 1862: 691;
    • combination in Camponotus: Emery, in Dalla Torre, 1893: 247;
    • combination in C. (Colobopsis): Forel, 1912i: 90.
    • Status as species: Smith, F. 1858b: 24; Mayr, 1863: 403; Roger, 1863b: 10; Smith, F. 1871a: 305; Dalla Torre, 1893: 247; Emery, 1896d: 378 (in list); Emery, 1900d: 706; Forel, 1912d: 110; Forel, 1913k: 133; Viehmeyer, 1914a: 115; Forel, 1915a: 42; Viehmeyer, 1916a: 161; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 115; Stitz, 1925: 127.
    • Replacement name: Camponotus (Colobopsis) leonardi Emery, 1889b: 515.
  • leonardi. Camponotus (Colobopsis) leonardi Emery, 1889b: 515.
    • Replacement name for Colobopsis pubescens Mayr, 1862: 691. [Junior secondary homonym of Formica pubescens Fabricius, 1775: 392.]
    • [Note: an earlier senior synonym of Colobopsis pubescens Mayr, Formica pilosa Smith, F. 1857a: 54 (synonymy by Emery, 1900d: 706), is itself a junior primary homonym (of Formica pilosa Olivier, 1792: 498); hence pilosa Smith, F. is unavailable as a replacement name for pubescens Mayr, and leonardi becomes the first available name (Emery, 1921a: 25).]
    • [Misspelled as leonadi by Jaitrong & Nabhitabhata, 2005: 15.]
    • Karavaiev, 1929c: 243 (m.).
    • Combination in Colobopsis: Ward, Blaimer & Fisher, 2016: 350.
    • Junior synonym of pubescens: Forel, 1893b: 437; Emery, 1896d: 375; Bingham, 1903: 344; Emery, 1921a: 25.
    • Junior synonym of pilosus: Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 115.
    • Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 248; Emery, 1895k: 480; Emery, 1896d: 375; Emery, 1900d: 706; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 115; Emery, 1921a: 25; Emery, 1925b: 149; Wheeler, W.M. 1927b: 46; Santschi, 1928h: 133; Karavaiev, 1929c: 243; Wheeler, W.M. 1929g: 57; Menozzi, 1930d: 328; Donisthorpe, 1932c: 443; Karavaiev, 1933a: 317; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 225; Baltazar, 1966: 269; Bolton, 1995b: 108; Jaitrong & Nabhitabhata, 2005: 15; Mohanraj, et al. 2010: 6; Pfeiffer, et al. 2011: 37; Ran & Zhou, 2011: 68; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 29; McArthur, 2012: 44; Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 25; Jaitrong, Guénard, et al. 2016: 28; Khachonpisitsak, et al. 2020: 48; Wang, W.Y., Soh, et al. 2022: 45.
    • Distribution: China, India (+ Andaman Is), Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra), Laos, Malaysia (Peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak), Myanmar, Philippines (Luzon), Singapore, Thailand.
    • Current subspecies: nominal plus gracilenta, grisea.
  • pubescens. Colobopsis pubescens Mayr, 1862: 691 (q.) INDONESIA (Sulawesi).
    • Type-material: holotype queen.
    • Type-locality: Indonesia: Sulawesi (“Celebes”) (no collector’s name)
    • Type-depository: NHMW.
    • [Misspelled as pubens by Santschi, 1920h: 174, Santschi, 1924c: 115, Santschi, 1928h: 133.]
    • [Junior secondary homonym of Formica pubescens Fabricius, 1775: 392.]
    • Mayr, 1867a: 68 (w.).
    • Status as species: Mayr, 1863: 403; Roger, 1863b: 10; Mayr, 1867a: 68 (redescription); Mayr, 1870b: 941 (in key); Forel, 1886f: 193; Emery, 1888a: 529; Forel, 1893b: 437; Dalla Torre, 1893: 248; Emery, 1893g: 267; Emery, 1896d: 375; Bingham, 1903: 344; Forel, 1903d: 408; Forel, 1907e: 19; Wheeler, W.M. 1909d: 343; Forel, 1910d: 127; Forel, 1911d: 382; Santschi, 1920h: 174; Santschi, 1924c: 115; Santschi, 1928h: 133; Mathew & Tiwari, 2000: 351 (error).
    • Junior synonym of pilosa: Emery, 1900d: 706; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 115; Bolton, 1995b: 118.
    • Replacement name: Camponotus (Colobopsis) leonardi Emery, 1889b: 515.
    • [Note: an earlier senior synonym of Colobopsis pubescens Mayr, Formica pilosa Smith, F. 1857a: 54 (synonymy by Emery, 1900d: 706), is itself a junior primary homonym (of Formica pilosa Olivier, 1792: 498); hence pilosa Smith, F. is unavailable as a replacement name for pubescens Mayr, and leonardi becomes the first available name (Emery, 1921a: 25).]

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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