Camponotus rufus

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus (Dinomyrmex) rufus Crawley, 1925b: 596 (s.w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
 * Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Bolton, 1995b: 121.
 * Status as species: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 119; Taylor, 1987a: 14; Bolton, 1995b: 121; McArthur, 2007a: 326; Heterick, 2009: 66; McArthur, 2010: 82; McArthur, 2014: 72.

Worker
Major Length 15-17 mm.

Rufous, gaster black. Head darker red than the thorax, and the legs more inclined to yellow than the thorax. Mandibles and clypeus somewhat fuscous. Ocellar region fuscous.

Body with a few short stiff hairs. Scapes without erect hairs, tibial with a few bristles on their under surface. On the mandibles and anterior border of clypeus are short golden hairs.

Head broader than long (5.2 by 4.4 mm.), broadest at level of eyes, the sides slightly convex, the occipital border widely concave, the angles abruptly rounded. Mandibles very thick and massive, with 7-8 teeth. Central portion of clypeus rectangular, broader than in subnitidus, the anterior border convex and irregularly crenulate, the posterior border incised in centre. It is impressed at the anterior third, as in subnitidus, but there is no sign of a carina. Cheeks swollen. Frontal carinse three-eighths wider behind than in front. Eyes at the posterior third of head, nearer the centre line than the lateral border, on a level with the posterior end of frontal carinae; the distance between the frontal carinae is greater than between the eye and the carinae. Ocelli represented by three small pits. The scapes extend nearly one-third of their length beyond the occipital border. Antennae thin, joints of funiculus long and thin, the first four approximately equal, the rest diminishing gradually to the apical which is less than twice as long as the preceding one.

Thorax slightly incised at meso-epinotal suture. Base of epinotum very feebly convex, and nearly twice as long as the declivity. Tibiae grooved. Node from above twice as broad as long, the apex with a small crescent-shaped emargination. In profile it is thick at base, converging rapidly from the upper third to form an acute edge. The node is less thick than in subnitidus.

Subopaque. Whole head covered with a dense ground reticulation, densest on mandibles and anterior portion of head. In addition, the mandibles have large, irregular and shallow punctures. The cheeks and space between frontal carinm have abundant very small circular punctures which diminish in distinctness as the occiput is approached. Scapes minutely punctate.

Thorax with a microscopical ground reticulation and here and there very small punctures. Legs punctate. Node reticulate. Gaster microscopically transversely reticulate.

Minor Length 12 mm.

Colour as in the major, but legs yellower.

Head broader than in 8ubnitidus, and contracted more rapidly behind the eyes, the sides becoming concave before reaching the margination of the neck. Mandibles narrow, with three large teeth in a row at apex, and two others further behind with smaller teeth between them. The head is broadest at the base of the mandibles, and the sides as far as the eyes not quite straight. Eyes large, placed opposite the ends of the frontal carinae. Clypeus bluntly carinate, the anterior border of the produced portion only slightly convex. Scapes extend for more than half their length beyond the occipital border, which is concave.

Scale in profile much shorter and higher than in subnitidus; the downward sloping portion behind the apex is twice as long as the portion in front; apex truncate. In subnitidus the two portions are approximately equal.

Mandibles punctate. Cheeks with small faint punctures, which disappear towards the back of the head. Frontal carinae and clypeus with small punctures.

There are a few punctures in front of pronotum and on the node. The head and thorax are microscopically reticulate, and the gaster also, transversely. Otherwise like the major.

Queen
Length 18 mm.

Dealated. Colour as in major, but darker.

Mandibles with six distinct teeth and four or five indistinct ones behind.

Head as in major, but less massive and the vertex more arched. Ocelli distinct. Eyes larger and more prominent. The scapes extend for half their length beyond the occipital border.

Anterior border of clypeus almost straight, not crenulate.

Thorax broader than head. Epinotum evenly rounded, convex in both directions. Scale seen from in front wider, and the emargination at top wider. In profile it is similar to that of the major. Gaster hoader than thorax.

Sculpture on head and thorax similar. Otherwise like the major.

West Australia (J. Clark, no. 202). Differs from subnitidus from Queensland as indicated above, and in its brighter color.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Heatwole H., S. Tremont, and E. Broese. 2013. Point-diversity, a critical tool for assessing dynamics of guilds of scavenging ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): an example from a eucalypt woodland. Systematics and Biodiversity 11(2): 149180.