Camponotus lucayanus

This variety was taken in only two localities: on High Key, a small island off the eastern coast of Andros, and in the “pineyard” near Blue Hills, New Providence. In the former locality it was very common under stones among which the terns were nesting. Here I took the winged females, June 2. The colony found near Blue Hills was also nesting under a large stone and contained both males and winged females (June 27). The females in this colony had a median brown band, widest anteriorly, running the full length of the mesonotum. (Wheeler 1905)

Identification
Wheeler (1905) - At first glance C. lucayanus is readily confounded with C. abdominalis subsp. floridanus Emery, on account of its bright ferruginous red color and conspicuous pilosity, but closer examination shows that it belongs to the maculatus group and is allied to the subsp. tortuganus Emery. This form, however, has no erect hairs on the cheeks and antennal scapes, and all the major workers I have seen-including a number which I have taken from large colonies containing males and winged females at Miami, Florida-have much smaller heads than the major workers of C. lucayanus. Through the var. tephronotus it passes over into forms like the subsp. picipes and its var. pilosula Forel of Mexico. C. maculatus subsp. soulouquei Forel seems also to be an allied form, but the worker major has opaque mandibles and a much less sloping epinotum according to Forel's description.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti.

Nomenclature

 *  lucayanus. Camponotus maculatus subsp. lucayanus Wheeler, W.M. 1905b: 112, figs. P-R (s.w.q.) BAHAMAS. Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 81. Subspecies of fumidus: Santschi, 1922c: 101. Raised to species: Smith, M.R. 1954c: 12. See also: Snelling, R.R. 1968b: 351.

Worker
Major Length 10-12 mm.

Head large, narrowed in front, posterior corners prominent, occipital border concave. Clypeus rather indistinctly keeled, its anterior lobe broad, with rounded corners and straight median border. Mandibles 8-9-toothed. Antennal scapes slender, not compressed at the base. Thorax narrow, pronotum about half as broad as the head; in profile much lower than in forms like subsp. maccooki, vicinus, etc.; evenly rounded; epinotum very flat, barely angular, basal surface nearly twice as long as the declivity. Hind femora without bristles on their flexor surfaces.

Mandibles glabrous, coarsely punctate. Head, thorax, and gaster subopaque, shagreened. Clypeus and cheeks with coarse and rather shallow elongate punctures or foveolae; remainder of the head more opaque, with smaller scattered punctures, except between the frontal carinae, where they are of the same size as on the cheeks. Antennal scapes pumctate. Thorax and gaster somewhat shining.

Hairs abundant, yellow, erect, conspicuous on the cheeks, posterior portions of the head, front, antennal scapes, legs, thorax, petiole, and gaster. Pubescence on the prothorax and gaster yellow, long, sparse, and appressed; shorter and much denser on the antennal funiculi.

Ferruginous red. Mandibles, antennal scapes, upper surface of head and thorax, darker; gaster dark brown, almost black, with yellow posterior edges to the segments. Legs reddish yellow, tarsi and funiculi somewhat darker. Mandibular teeth, anterior border of clypeus, anterior corners of head, a cloud on the front, and external to each antennal insertion, black. In some specimens the whole thoracic dorsum is ferruginous red.

Media Length 7-9 mm.

Closely resembling the soldier except in the smaller size of the head, which is only 1 ½ times as broad as the prothorax, and in smaller specimens is hardly broader behind than in front.

Minor Length 6-7.5 mm.

Head slender; including the mandibles, twice as long as broad, cheeks very straight and parallel, with prominent anterior angles. Clypeus broadly rounded in front, rather convex, and distinctly keeled. Thorax slender, in profile very low and flattened; basal surface of epinotum straight, almost concave, fully three times as long as the declivity, with which it forms a very obtuse angle.

Somewhat shining, body more coarsely, legs very finely, shagreened; mandibles punctate.

Erect hairs much less abundant than in the worker major, dense and short on the antennal scapes, but conspicuous on the cheeks, clypeus, dorsal surface of head, thorax, petiole, and gaster. Pubescence long and sparse on the head, prothorax, and gaster.

Reddish yellow, upper surface of head darker; gaster dark brown, with broadly yellow segmental incisures. Mandibular teeth black.

Queen
Length 11-12 mm.

Resembling the worker major. Epinotum with convex, rounded basal surface and flattened declivity. Petiole broad, compressed anteroposteriorly, with blunt dorsal edge; seen from behind the node is straight and transverse above, with rounded corners and slightly convex sides converging below. Sculpture, pilosity, and color as in the worker major, but head more uniformly dark ferruginous above. Clouds on the mesonotum, scutellum, and metanotum brown. There is a black spot in front of the insertion of the fore wing. Wings pale yellowish hyaline, with yellow veins and stigma.

Type Material
Described from specimens from some ten colonies collected both on Andros (Little Golding Key, Crawl Creek, Fish Hawk Key, and other keys along the course of the Southern Bight; Nicholl's Town) and New Providence (Menendez Sisal Plantation, Hog Key). The colonies nest in and under old palmetto logs and stumps. The winged females were taken in one of the colonies on Crawl Creek, May 22.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Brandao, C.R.F. 1991. Adendos ao catalogo abreviado das formigas da regiao neotropical (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Rev. Bras. Entomol. 35: 319-412.
 * Deyrup M., L. Davis, and S. Buckner. 1998. Composition of the ant fauna of three Bahamian islands. Proceedings of the seventh symposium on the natural history of the Bahamas. 23-32. Bahamian Field Station, San Salvador, Bahamas
 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * MacKay W., and T. Delsinne. 2009. A new species of carpenter ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Camponotus) from Paraguay with a key to the New World members of the maculatus species complex. Sociobiology 53: 487-498.
 * Mann W. M. 1920. Additions to the ant fauna of the West Indies and Central America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 42: 403-439.
 * Morrison L. W. 1998. A review of Bahamian ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) biogeography. Journal of Biogeography 25: 561-571.
 * Morrison, Lloyd. 2006. The Ants of Small Bahamian Cays. Bahamas Naturalist & Journal of Science. 1(2):27-32.
 * Smith, Marion R. 1954. American Museum Novitates. Ants of the Bimini Island Group, Bahamas, British West Indies (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). 1671:1-16
 * Smith, Marion R. 1954. Ants of the Bimini Island Group, Bahamas, British West Indies. American Museum of Natural History. 1671. 1-16.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1905. The ants of the Bahamas, with a list of the known West Indian species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 21: 79-135.