Camponotus depressus

Camponotus depressus selectively nests in dead bamboo occurring from Amazonia, Brazil south to Paraguay (Davidson et al., 2006). This ant is not an obligate bamboo nester. De Oliveira et al. (2015) found a colony opportunistically nesting in a Cecropia saxatilis tree (southwest Bahia, Brazil).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Brazil, Paraguay.

Biology
C. depressus may be tied to dead bamboo because it provides superior nest sites, or by nutritional dependency on prodigious wound exudates produced at sites of insect damage to growing culm tips (Davidson et al., 2006). Such strict reliance on nests in dead bamboo has not been reported in Asian bamboo ants.

Nomenclature

 *  depressus. Camponotus depressus Mayr, 1866a: 487, pl., fig. 1 (w.) BRAZIL. Menozzi, 1925b: 371 (q.). Combination in C. (Myrmomalis): Forel, 1914a: 263.