Camponotus saxatilis

Zryanin & Zryanina (2007) found this species in boreal forests where it nests in soil.

The species mostly inhabits open sites (forest steppe, mountain steppe, forest edge, grassland), and is also met in different kinds of forest (larch, birch, mixed forests). Nests are built mainly in dead wood (rotten wood, fallen wood dead standing tree, base of dead tree) and under stone (partly in soil). Yamane and Aibek (2007) gave a picture (Fig. 3) of a nest said to be C. japonicus, but the species should be C. saxatilis. Nuptial flight is seen in July and August (15 July 2007, U. Aibek leg.) (Aibek & Yamane, 2009).

Identification
Aibek & Yamane (2009) - Yasumatsu and Brown (1957) did not separate this species from Camponotus japonicus. In the workers this species is easily distinguished from Camponotus herculeanus (as C. sachalinensis) by the almost wholly black body, and long and dense pubescence on gastral tergites; in the male by the shallower apical concavity of petiole with rounded lateral angles. In the queen the two species are very similar, but the metanotum has constantly fewer standing hairs (usually less than 4) in C. saxatilis. In both the queen and male, the forewing of C. saxatilis is more strongly infuscated, with its anterior zone rather strongly darkened.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: China, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Russian Federation.

Foraging/Diet
Camponotus saxatilis collect honeydew. Novgorodova (2015b) investigated ant-aphid interactions of a dozen honeydew collecting ant species in Western Siberia pine and aspen-birch-pine forests (54°7´N, 83°06´E, 200 m, Novosibirsk) and mixed-grass-cereal steppes with aspen-birch groves (53°44´N, 78°02´E, 110 m, near Karasuk) in the Novosibirsk Region and coniferous forests in the northeastern Altai (north end of Lake Teletskoe, 51°48´N, 87°17´E, 434 m). All of the ants studied had workers that showed high fidelity to attending particular aphid colonies, i.e, individual foragers that collect honeydew tend to return to the same location, and group of aphids, every time they leave the nest. Camponotus saxatilis also exhibited other forager specialization. Some workers specialized on attending specific aphid colonies. These foragers did collect honeydew but a majority of their time was spent guarding the aphids. Another subset of the foragers showed a tendency to specialize on transporting honeydew as they were more active in soliciting from foragers attending the aphids than typical unspecialized foragers. This in turn allowed those ants attending aphids to remain at the aphid colony and thereby protect it for long periods of time. Camponotus saxatilis tended Symydobius oblongus (Heyden) and Aphis craccivora Koch.

Nomenclature

 *  saxatilis. Camponotus herculeanus subsp. saxatilis Ruzsky, 1895: 7 (w.q.m.) RUSSIA.
 * Arnol'di, 1967: 1825 (s.).
 * Combination in C. (Camponotus): Emery, 1925b: 73.
 * Subspecies of pennsylvanicus: Emery, 1898a: 225; Ruzsky, 1903c: 205; Ruzsky, 1905b: 228.
 * Subspecies of herculeanus: Ruzsky, 1914b: 100; Ruzsky, 1915b: 5; Ruzsky, 1925b: 42.
 * Junior synonym of japonicus: Yasumatsu & Brown, 1951: 36.
 * Status as species: Ruzsky, 1926: 108; Arnol'di, 1967: 1825; Kupyanskaya, 1990: 167; Radchenko, 1994b: 116 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 122; Radchenko, 1996b: 1203 (in key); Radchenko, 1997a: 557; Radchenko, 2005b: 160.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Aibek U., and S. Yamane. 2009. Taxonomic review of the genus Camponotus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Formicinae) from Mongolia. Biogeography 11: 97-108.
 * Antonov I. A. 2013. Ant Assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Cities of the Temperate Zone of Eurasia. Russian Journal of Ecology 44(6): 523526.
 * Azuma M. 1955. A list of ants (Formicidae) from Hokkaido Is. Hyogo Biology 3:79-80.
 * Chesnokova S. V., and L. V. Omelchenko. 2011. Ants of Central Altai: Spatial-Typological Structure and Classification of Communities. Entomological Review 91(2): 253263.
 * Dubovikoff D. A., and Z. M. Yusupov. 2018. Family Formicidae - Ants. In Belokobylskij S. A. and A. S. Lelej: Annotated catalogue of the Hymenoptera of Russia. Proceedingss of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences 6: 197-210.
 * Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
 * Huang Ren-Xing, Ouyang Tong, Wu Wei, and Fan Zhao-tian. 2004. Forty two new record species of Family Formicidae (Hymenoptera: Formicoidea) from Xinjiang, China. Entomotaxonomia 26 (2): 156-160.
 * Karavaiev V. 1931. Beitrag zur Ameisenfauna Jakutiens. (Auf Grund der Sammelergebnisse der Expeditionen der Wissenschaften der UdSSR., ausgeführt in den Jahren 1925 und 1926.). Zool. Anz. 94: 104-117.
 * Kholin S. K. and A. N. Kupianskaya. 2003. The international biodiversity observation year (IBOY): the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of forest ecosystems of the Primorye region. Chteniya Pamyati Alekseya Ivanovicha Kurentsova 14: 50-55.
 * Kupianskaia A.N. 1990. Murav'I (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Dal'nego Vostoka SSSR (1989). Vladivostok. 258 pages.
 * Lelej A. S. 2012. Annotated catalogue of the Insects of Russian Far East. Volume 1. Hymenoptera. Dalnauka: Vladivostok. 635 p.
 * Malozemova L. A. 1972. Ants of steppe forests, their distribution by habitats, and perspectives of their utilization for protection of forests (north Kazakhstan). [In Russian.]. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 51: 57-68.
 * Novgorodova T. A., A. S. Ryabinin. 2015. Trophobiotic associations between ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and aphids (Hemiptera, Aphidomorpha) in South Zauralye. News of Saratov University. Chemistry Series, Biology, Ecology 2(15): 98-107.
 * Radchenko, A. 2005. Monographic revision of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of North Korea. Annales Zoologici 55(2): 127-221.
 * Ran H., and S. Y. Zhou. 2011. Checklist of Chinese Ants: the Formicomorph Subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (I). Journal of Guangxi Normal University: Natural Science Edition. 29(3): 65-73.
 * Reznikova Z. I. 2003. Distribution patterns of ants in different natural zones and landscapes in Kazakhstan and West Siberia along a meridian trend. Euroasian Entomological Journal 2(4): 235-342.
 * Shilenkov V. G., A. A. Pankratov, and E. V. Sofronova. 2012. Preliminirary notes on species composition of Magdansky Reserve. Baikal Zoological Journal 3: 30-34.
 * Terayama. M. 2004. Geological and ecological distribution of Japanese ants communities. (translated from Japanese) Reports of the Saitama Prefecture Animal Research Association. 48:24
 * Yamane S. 2007. Ants of Mongolia. The Nature and Insects. 42: 20-25