Camponotus cinereus

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Camponotus cinereus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Species: C. cinereus
Binomial name
Camponotus cinereus
Mayr, 1876

Camponotus cinereus casent0217628 p 1 high.jpg

Camponotus cinereus casent0217628 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Subspecies

A common sight in arid and semi-arid woodlands in southern Australia, where workers scurry swiftly across the ground with their gasters vertically raised. The colour of the workers ranges from black (most commonly) to a rich red. This ant was described from Victoria. (Heterick 2009)

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

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

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Camponotus cinereus casent0906937 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0906937 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0906937 d 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0906937 l 1 high.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0906937. Photographer Michele Esposito, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.
Camponotus cinereus casent0906936 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0906936 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0906936 d 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0906936 l 1 high.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0906936. Photographer Michele Esposito, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.
Camponotus cinereus casent0910367 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0910367 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0910367 d 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0910367 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Camponotus cinereus ampereiWorker. Specimen code casent0910367. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.
Camponotus cinereus casent0910365 h 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0910365 p 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0910365 d 1 high.jpgCamponotus cinereus casent0910365 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Camponotus cinereusWorker. Specimen code casent0910365. 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.

  • cinereus. Camponotus cinereus Mayr, 1876: 62 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
    • Combination in C. (Myrmocamelus): Forel, 1913g: 192; Forel, 1914a: 270;
    • combination in C. (Myrmophyma): Emery, 1920b: 192; Santschi, 1928e: 481.
    • Status as species: Forel, 1879a: 90; Dalla Torre, 1893: 224; Emery, 1896d: 373 (in list); Forel, 1907h: 302; Forel, 1911e: 291; Santschi, 1919a: 330; Emery, 1925b: 110; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 111; Taylor, 1987a: 11; Bolton, 1995b: 92; McArthur, 2007a: 333; Heterick, 2009: 65; McArthur, 2014: 146.
    • Current subspecies: nominal plus amperei, notterae.

Type Material

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

Description

Worker Length.7.5-9mm Ferruginous, in part dark, gaster black, sometimes head more or less black; sparse erect hairs, antennae and limbs not hairy, moderate and fine flat lying pubescence, denser pubescence on the gaster, yellow and fine; mandibles with dispersed punctations weakly curved; head glossy, finely and densely punctate coriaceous; Clypeus with a keel in the middle, the anterior margin in the case of the worker major is emarginate in the middle of its arc; thorax convex above the propodeum angle, the mesonotum and the basal part of the metanotum (= propodeum) almost straight longitudinally; the node on the petiole is thick like a rounded cube; gaster with very dense and fine transverse striations.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.