Camponotus carbo

Reported as a savannah species by Lévieux & Louis (1975). In Benin, Taylor et al. (2018) found this species in Mangifera indica (mango) orchards, observed it as prey and an antagonist of Oecophylla longinoda, at base of Anacardium occidentale (cashew), and foraging on Acacia hockii, Acacia sieberiana and Entadda africana. It nests arboreally in hollow branches as well as in soil.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Benin, Eritrea, Ethiopia. Palaearctic Region: Oman.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus carbo Emery, 1877b: 364, fig. (w.) ERITREA.
 * Combination in C. (Myrmotrema): Forel, 1913b: 341.
 * Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 223; Emery, 1896d: 377 (in list); Emery, 1898a: 227; Mayr, 1902: 300; Santschi, 1915c: 271 (in key); Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 976; Emery, 1925b: 130; Menozzi, 1933a: 112; Finzi, 1939a: 167; Bolton, 1995b: 91; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 372; Borowiec, L. 2014: 28 (see note in bibliography); Madl, 2019: 14.
 * Current subspecies: nominal plus honorus, occidentalis.

Worker
Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HL 3.0; HW 2.3; SL 2.4; EL 0.32. The clypeus projects slightly in front of the head side margins and has the front border with a broken, bluntly serrated edge. It has a distinct keel which continues posteriorly as an indented line between the frontal ridges. The head is densely sculptured, microreticulate and dull with scattered large punctures towards the genae and across the clypeus and lower frons, also the proximal third of the scape which widens from its narrow base to about 1.5 times its width near the apex. The alitrunk dorsum forms a simple arch in side view but with distinct promesonotal and mesopropodeal sutures. The petiole is a simple scale nearly as high as the propodeum. The dense sculpture of the head continues over the alitrunk; the gaster is more finely reticulostriate and the general appearance is dull without shine. In dorsal view short hairs project round the head from the occiput to the anterior genal margins. There are numerous longer hairs on the pronotum, on the posterior border of the propodeum and on the gastral dorsum.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Collingwood, C. A. and D. Agosti. 1996. Formicidae (Insects: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2) Fauna of Saudi Arabia 15: 300-385.
 * Finzi B. 1939. Materiali zoologici dell'Eritrea raccolti da G. Müller durante la spedizione dell'Istituto Sieroterapico Milanese e conservati al Museo di Trieste. Parte III. Hymenoptera: Formicidae. Atti del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Trieste 14: 153-168.
 * Lévieux J. 1972. Les fourmis de la savane de Lamto (Côte d'Ivoire): éléments de taxonomie. Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire. Série A. Sciences Naturelles 34: 611-654.
 * Madl M. 2019. Notes on the ant fauna of Eritrea (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae): type specimens deposited in the Natural History Museum Vienna (Austria) and a preliminary checklist. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 9-18.
 * Menozzi C. 1932. Raccolte mirmecologiche dell'Africa orientale conservate nel Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova. Parte II. Formiche dell'Uganda e delle isole Sesse raccolte dal Dr. E. Bayon. [part]. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria. 56: 93-112.
 * Santschi F. 1915. Nouvelles fourmis d'Afrique. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 84: 244-282.
 * Sharaf M. R., B. L. Fisher, H. M. Al Dhafer, A. Polaszek, and A. S. Aldawood. 2018. Additions to the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Oman: an updated list, new records and a description of two new species. Asian Myrmecology 10: e010004
 * Taylor B., N. Agoinon, A. Sinzogan, A. Adandonon, Y. N'Da Kouagou, S. Bello, R. Wargui, F. Anato, I. Ouagoussounon, H. Houngbo, S. Tchibozo, R. Todjhounde, and J. F. Vayssieres. 2018. Records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Republic of Benin, with particular reference to the mango farm ecosystem. Journal of Insect Biodiversity 8(1): 006–029.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004