Camponotus samius

Camponotus samius is a thermophile species most often recorded from pine forests. It also occurs in stream valleys with deciduous trees, suburban areas with maquis, pastures with shrubs or from dry hills in the coastal area. Nests are located under large stones. Workers are active usually at dawn and dusk.

Identification
A member of the Camponotus samius species complex (Tanaemyrmex).

Salata et al. (2020) - Hind tibia and scape with decumbent to suberect pilosity but without additional erect setae; gena with numerous erect setae; minor and major workers with head uniformly black to dark brown, mesosoma and legs with variable colouration from yellow to reddish-brown, gaster in major and minor workers always with distinctly brighter basal part; pilosity on gaster sparse and thin.

Distribution
This is an uncommon southern and eastern species, recorded from the Aegean Islands, Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Macedonia, the Peloponnese, Sterea Ellas and Thrace (Borowiec et al., 2022).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus rubripes r. samius Forel, 1889: 262 (s.w.) GREECE.
 * Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 100.
 * Subspecies of maculatus: Emery, in Dalla Torre, 1893: 241 (footnote), 251; Emery, 1896d: 370 (in list); Emery, 1905d: 35; Forel, 1906c: 187; Emery, 1908a: 192; Forel, 1911d: 359; Emery, 1914d: 159; Emery, 1915h: 2; Stitz, 1917: 351; Hamann & Klemm, 1976: 677 (anachronism).
 * Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 251; Emery, 1920c: 6, 10 (in key); Emery, 1925b: 100; Finzi, 1930d: 318; Menozzi, 1936d: 300; Aktaç, 1977: 125; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 59; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 284 (in key); Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Collingwood, 1993b: 195; Bolton, 1995b: 122; Radchenko, 1996b: 1200 (in key); Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Petrov, 2006: 109 (in key); Lapeva-Gjonova, et al. 2010: 46; Legakis, 2011: 32; Karaman, C. et al. 2011: 191; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 481; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8; Karaman, C. & Aktaç, 2013: 53 (in key); Borowiec, L. 2014: 41; Lebas, et al. 2016: 154; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2018: 5; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 44.
 * Senior synonym of spagnolinii: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 59; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Bolton, 1995b: 122; Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8.
 * Material of the unavailable name bosphoricus referred here by Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Bolton, 1995b: 122; Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8.
 * Material of the unavailable name cognatopilicornis referred here by Radchenko, 1997d: 809.
 * spagnolinii. Camponotus samius var. spagnolinii Emery, 1920c: 6.
 * [First available use of Camponotus maculatus subsp. samius var. spagnolinii Emery, 1905d: 36 (w.) TURKEY; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
 * As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1908a: 192.
 * Subspecies of samius: Emery, 1925b: 100.
 * Junior synonym of samius: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 59; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Bolton, 1995b: 124; Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8.

Type Material
Salata et al. (2020) - Syntype major and minor workers, Marathokampos, Samos, Greece  Syntype major and minor workers images examined, AntWeb, CASENT0910260 and CASENT0910259, photos by Zach Lieberman.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Agosti, D. and C.A. Collingwood. 1987. A provisional list of the Balkan ants (Hym. Formicidae) and a key to the worker caste. I. Synonymic list. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 60: 51-62
 * Aktaç, N.. "Studies on the myrmecofauna of Turkey I. Ants of Siirt, Bodrum and Trabzon." Istanbul Universitesi Fen Fakultesi Mecmuasi. Seri B 41 (1977): 115-135.
 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
 * Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2018. Notes on ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Samos Island, Greece. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-13.
 * Bracko G., K. Kiran, C. Karaman, S. Salata, and L. Borowiec. 2016. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Greek Thrace. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7945. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e7945
 * Collingwood, C. A. 1993. A Comparitive Study of the Ant Fauna of Five Greek Islands. Biologia Gallo-hellenica. 20,1:191-197
 * Collingwood, C. A.. "A comparative study of the ant fauna of five Greek islands." Biologia Gallo-Hellenica 20 (1993): 191-197.
 * Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
 * Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
 * Emery, C.. "Escursioni zoologiche del Dr. Enrico Festa nell'Isola di Rodi. XII. Formiche." Bollettino del Museo di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparatadella Reale Università di Torino 30 (1915): 1-7.
 * Emery, C.. "Le forme paleartiche del Camponotus maculatus F." Rendiconti delle Sessioni della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna (n.s.)9 (1905): 27-44.
 * Forel A. 1911. Fourmis nouvelles ou intéressantes. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 47: 331-400.
 * Hamann H. H. F., and W. Klemm. 1976. Ergebnisse der von Dr. O. Paget und Dr. E. Kritscher auf Rhodos durchgeführten zoologischen Exkursionen. XVI. Formicidae. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 80: 669-679.
 * Karaman C., N. Aktac, and K. Kiran. 2009. Ants of the genus CamponotusMayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Kaz Mountains, Turkey, with descriptions of sexuals of Camponotus candiotes Emery, 1894 and Camponotus ionius Emery, 1920. Tubitak 35(2): 183-197.
 * Kiran K. C. Karaman, A. Lapeva-Gjonova, and V. Aksoy. 2017. Two new species of the "ultimate" parasitic ant genus Teleutomyrmex KUTTER, 1950 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Western Palaearctic. Myrmecological News 25: 145-155.
 * Kiran K., and C. Karaman. 2012. First annotated checklist of the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3548: 1-38.
 * Kiran K., and N. Aktac. 2006. The vertical distribution of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Samanh Mountains, Turkey. Linzer Biol. Beitr. 38(2): 1105-1122.
 * Lapeva-Gjonova A., and K. Kiran. 2012. Ant fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Strandzha (Istranca) Mountain and adjacent Black Sea coast. North-western journal of Zoology 8(1): 72-84.
 * Lapeva-Gjonova, L., V. Antonova, A. G. Radchenko, and M. Atanasova. "Catalogue of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Bulgaria." ZooKeys 62 (2010): 1-124.
 * Menozzi C. 1929. Ricerche faunistiche nelle isole italiane dell'Egeo. Imenotteri (formiche). Archivio Zoologico Italiano. 13: 145-146.
 * Salata S., and L Borowiec. 2017. Species of Tetramorium semilaeve complex from Balkans and western Turkey, with description of two new species of (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 62:279–313.
 * Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2018. Taxonomic and faunistic notes on Greek ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-51.