Camponotus floridanus

Common in Florida nesting in old stumps and logs. Very pugnacious.

Distribution
This very abundant species lives in almost all disturbed and natural habitats in Florida. It readily colonizes containers left outside, and could easily be transported to new areas. Related species or forms of the subgenus Myrmothrix (a group in serious taxonomic disarray) are among the ants that Donisthorpe (1915) reported arriving in England, usually in bunches of bananas, but also in orchids. It occurs through the Florida panhandle, and as Creighton (1950) pointed out, it appears closely related to the Texas form that used to be called Camponotus abdominalis transvectus (now a synonym of Camponotus atriceps). There is a good chance that this complex once occurred around the Gulf of Mexico, and was later separated into eastern and western populations. Further work on the taxonomy of this section of Camponotus is needed before we will be happy with either the nomenclature or provenance of the Florida species. (Deyrup, Davis & Cover, 2000.)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States.



Biology
Workers can recognize the presence of a highly fertile queen via her eggs, which are marked with the queen’s Cuticular Hydrocarbons (Endler et al. 2006). Information on a queen's fertility is thus encoded in the hydrocarbon profile of her eggs.

Nomenclature

 *  floridanus. Formica floridana Buckley, 1866: 161 (w.) U.S.A. Mayr, 1886d: 423 (q.m.). Combination in Camponotus: Mayr, 1886d: 423; in C. (Myrmothrix): Emery, 1925b: 108. Subspecies of atriceps: Mayr, 1886d: 423; of abdominalis: Emery, 1893i: 670; Wheeler, W.M. 1902f: 21. Revived status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1910d: 325. Subspecies of abdominalis: Wheeler, W.M. 1913c: 117. Senior synonym of yankee: Mayr, 1886d: 423. Junior synonym of atriceps: Hashmi, 1973: 82. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of abdominalis: Deyrup & Trager, 1986: 219. Revived status as species: Deyrup, Johnson, et al. 1989: 100.
 * yankee. Camponotus atriceps r. yankee Forel, 1885a: 340 (w.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of floridanus: Mayr, 1886d: 423.

Worker
Wheeler (1910) - Major Length, 8-10 mm.; head, 3.5 x 3.4 mm.; scape, 2.7 mm.; hind tibia, 3 mm.

Head large, nearly as broad as long, broader behind than in front, with broadly excised posterior and convex lateral margins. Eyes flattened. Mandibles 5- to 6-toothed. Antennae short, scapes flattened at the base but not dilated, enlarged towards their tips, which do not extend beyond the posterior corners of the head. Clypeus carinate, its border produced as a prominent lobe with sharp corners, between which the median edge is angularly excised. Frontal carinae lyrate, rather far apart; frontal area small, triangular; frontal groove distinct. Thorax robust, narrower than the head in front, compressed and more narrowed in the pleural region; in profile rather unevenly arched, with deep pro-meoonotal suture, highest in the mesonotal region; epinotum depressed, sloping, with indistinct and subequal base and declivity. Petiole in profile cuneate, with similar, feebly convex anterior and posterior surfaces; seen from behind, evenly rounded above, with rather blunt border. Legs moderately long and robust; middle and hind tibiae neither compressed nor sulcate, elliptical in cross section.

Mandibles opaque, very finely striated and sparsely punctate; teeth smooth and shining. Head opaque, very densely and minutely punctate or shagreened. Cheeks with small, scattered foveolae; clypeus and lateral borders of front with a few large piligerous foveolte. Thorax, gaster and legs moderately shining, more superficially shagreened.

Hairs coarse, long, fulvous, erect, rather abundant, shorter on the anterior surface of the antennal scapes and on the legs, absent on the cheeks and sides of the head, very short on the mandibles and clypeal border. Pubescence very short and dilute, distinct only on the gaster.

Head ferruginous red; mandibles, antennal scapes and anterior border of cheeks and clypeus darker. Thorax and legs more yellowish red. Gaster black, with the posterior edges of the segments narrowly yellow.

Minor Length, 5.5-7 mm.

Head, excluding the mandibles, about twice as long as broad, with straight, parallel sides and short evenly rounded postocular portion. Eyes rather large and convex. Clypeus like that of the worker major. Antennae slender, scapes not flattened at the base, reaching about half their length beyond the posterior corners of the head. Thorax low, narrow and evenly arcuate above, epinotum without distinct base and declivity. Petiole like that of the worker major.

Head more shining and sometimes of the same yellowish red color as the thorax and legs. Antennae dark red throughout. Pilosity as in the worker major.