Camponotus baldaccii

Identification
Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - C. baldaccii is a small species of Tanaemyrmex, with hindtibia flattened but without a distinct dorsomedial ridge, and with a ventral row of bristles. It has abundant erect setae on the ventral head surface but lacks such setae on the genae. The ground sculpture is feeble and the entire ant is shiny, except for major workers, whose head and mesosoma dorsum are sub-matte. The body of major workers is reddish-yellow, with the head, dorsum of mesosoma, dorsum of first two gaster tergites, and the three posterior-most gaster segments brown. C. baldaccii is similar to Camponotus cecconii differing in the feebler ground sculpture, and with major workers having the head and mesosoma dorsum sub-matte, as opposed to matte in Camponotus cecconii. C. baldaccii is similar to Camponotus sp. near baldaccii, a species misidentified as Camponotus sanctus in Tohmé and Tohmé (2000: 390), in having the hindtibia without a distinct dorsomedial ridge, relatively abundant erect setae on the ventral head surface, and a similar sculpture and color pattern, but differing from it by its distinctly smaller size: HW < 3.3 mm in C. baldaccii (Collingwood and Agosti, 1996) and HW up to 3.8 mm in Camponotus sp. near baldaccii (Tohmé and Tohmé, 2000).

Distribution
Southeastern Europe, Turkey (Asia Minor), and Saudi Arabia (Radchenko, 1997b).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia. Palaearctic Region: Greece, Israel, Turkey.

Fungi
This species is a host for the ectoparastic fungus Laboulbenia camponoti (Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).

Nomenclature

 *  baldaccii. Camponotus maculatus subsp. baldaccii Emery, 1908a: 198 (s.w.) GREECE. [First available use of Camponotus maculatus subsp. dichrous var. baldaccii Emery, 1894j: 9; unavailable name.] Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 100. Subspecies of sylvaticus: Emery, 1925b: 100; Menozzi, 1936d: 300. Raised to species: Collingwood, 1985: 279.

Worker
Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - TL = 8.7–12.5, HL = 1.97–3.13, HW = 1.45–2.97, EL = 0.50–0.60, SL = 2.27–2.58, ML = 3.13–4.14, PW = 1.17–1.83, mTbL = 1.99–2.50, hTbL = 2.84–3.52 (n = 2).