Camponotus albosparsus

This species nests in the soil and under stone of open forest margins and grasslands. Foraging workers are found on the ground (Terayama 1999).

Identification
Terayama (1999) - Total length of workers around 4-7 mm. Head dark to blackish brown; mesosoma, petiole and legs brown; gaster black, 1st and 2nd gastral tergites each with a pair of yellow spots (often merging on the 1st tergite). Anterior margin of clypeus straight. Mandible with 6 teeth. Scape short: 1.2-1.3 times the head width in minor workers, and just exceeding the posterior border of head in majors. Petiole relatively high, with an inverted V-shaped scale in profile. Head and mesosoma with relatively abundant erect hairs.

Distribution
Terayama (1999) - Taiwan, through southern China, Hong Kong, to India.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: India. Palaearctic Region: China, Japan.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus taylori var. albosparsus Bingham, 1903: 354.
 * [First available use of Camponotus maculatus r. taylori var. albosparsus Forel, 1894c: 397 (s.w.) INDIA (no state data, “Himalaya”); unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
 * [Misspelled as albosparatus by Terayama, 2009: 217 (in key).]
 * Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 93.
 * As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1896d: 370 (in list); Forel, 1904c: 29.
 * Subspecies of taylori: Wheeler, W.M. 1913e: 237.
 * Subspecies of barbatus: Forel, 1906b: 84; Forel, 1912a: 75; Forel, 1913f: 200; Wheeler, W.M. 1921c: 544; Emery, 1925b: 93; Wheeler, W.M. 1927d: 9; Wheeler, W.M. 1928c: 32; Wheeler, W.M. 1929f: 9; Wheeler, W.M. 1929g: 62; Wheeler, W.M. 1930h: 75; Santschi, 1937h: 379; Menozzi, 1939a: 318 (in key); Teranishi, 1940: 60; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 243.
 * Status as species: Wang, C., Xiao & Wu, 1989a: 223 (in key); Wang, C., Xiao & Wu, 1989b: 327; Wu, J. & Wang, 1992: 1315; Wang, C. & Wu, 1994: 30 (in key); Wu, J. & Wang, 1995: 178; Bolton, 1995b: 85; Terayama, 1999b: 31 (redescription); Zhou, 2001b: 205; Zhang, W. & Zheng, 2002: 218; Imai, et al. 2003: 38; Lin & Wu, 2003: 60; Karmaly & Narendran, 2006: 37; Terayama, 2009: 216; Ran & Zhou, 2011: 66; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 27; Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 23.
 * Material of the unavailable name formosae referred here by Lin & Wu, 2003: 60; Terayama, 2009: 216.

Determination Clarifications
Terayama (1999) - Camponotus sp. [Aka-yotsuboshi-oo-ari in Japanese] in Terayama et al. (1991) is conspecific with C. albosparsus.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
 * Chen Z. L., S. Y. Zhou, D. D. Ye, Y. Chen, and C. W. Lu. 2013. Moleular phylogeny of the ant subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from China based on Mitochondrial genes. Sociobiology 60(2): 135-144.
 * Forel A. 1913. H. Sauter's Formosa-Ausbeute: Formicidae II. Arch. Naturgesch. (A)79(6): 183-202
 * Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
 * Li Z.h. 2006. List of Chinese Insects. Volume 4. Sun Yat-sen University Press
 * Lu Z., and Y. Chen. 2016. Effects of habitat on ant functional groups: a case study of Luchun County, Yunnan Province, China. Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture 24(5): 801-810.
 * Ran H., and S. Y. Zhou. 2011. Checklist of Chinese Ants: the Formicomorph Subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (I). Journal of Guangxi Normal University: Natural Science Edition. 29(3): 65-73.
 * Santschi F. 1937. Fourmis du Japon et de Formose. Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 77: 361-388.
 * Shuang Zhao. 2006. Ant of Guangdong Province (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A taxonomic study of the ants of Guangdong (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Master's thesis in Agriculture Insects and Pest Control. Supervisor Fenglong Jia. 115 pages.
 * Song Y., Z. Xu, C. Li, N. Zhang, L. Zhang, H. Jiang, and F. Mo. 2013. An Analysis on the Ant Fauna of the Nangun river Nature Reserve in Yunnan, China. Forest Research 26(6): 773-780.
 * Terayama M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University. Liberal Arts 17:81-266.
 * Terayama M., S. Kubota, and K. Eguchi. 2014. Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, 278 pp.
 * Terayama, M. 1999. The ant genus Camponotus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Japan. Memoirs of the Myrmecological Society of Japan 1:25-48.
 * Terayama, M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta; Hymenoptera). The Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University 17: 81-266.
 * Wang C., Xiao G. and Wu J. 1989. Taxonomic studies on the genus Camponotus in China (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (conclusion). Forest Research 2: 221-228
 * Wang W. R., S. Q. Zhang, and Z. H. Xu. 2012. A faunistic and taxonomic study of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Shenzhen Municipality. Journal of Southwest Forestry University 32(1): 64-73.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1913. Zoological results of the Abor Expedition, 1911-1912, XVII. Hymenoptera, II: Ants (Formicidae). Records of the Indian Museum 8: 233-237.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1921. Chinese ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 64: 529-547.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1928. Ants collected by Professor F. Silvestri in China. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 22: 3-38.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1929. Ants collected by Professor F. Silvestri in Formosa, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 24: 27-64.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1930. A list of the known Chinese ants. Peking Natural History Bulletin 5: 53-81.
 * Wu B., Y. Lu, G. Liang, and L. Zeng. 2010. Influence of the red inported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on the diversity of ant communities in a newly infested longan orchard and grass areas nearby. Acta Ecologica Sinica 30(8): 2075-2083.
 * Yamane S., S. Ikudome, and M. Terayama. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp, 138-317.
 * Yamane S.; Ikudome, S.; Terayama, M. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp138-317.
 * Zhang R. J., L. W. Liang, and S. Y. Zhou. 2014. An analysis on the ant fauna of Nonggang Nature Reserve in Guangxi, China. Journal of Guangxi Normal university: Natural Science Edition 32(3): 86-93.
 * Zhou S.-Y. 2001. Ants of Guangxi. Guangxi Normal University Press, Guilin, China, Guilin, China. 255 pp.