Camponotus rufipes

De Oliveira et al. (2015), studying ant occupancy of Cecropia trees in southwest Bahia, Brazil, found two colonies of  opportunistically nesting in Cecropia pachystachya trees.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Chemical Ecology
LeBrun et al. (2015) found a behaviour, first noted and resulting from interactions between Solenopsis invicta and Nylanderia fulva, that detoxifies fire ant venom is expressed widely across ants in the subfamily Formicinae. This behavior was also studied and shown in experiments with C. rufipes. See the biology section of the N. fulva page for a description of acidopore grooming and the use of formic acid for detoxification of a specific class of venoms that are produced by ants that may interact with formicines in the context of predation and food competition.

Nomenclature

 *  rufipes. Formica rufipes Fabricius, 1775: 391 (s.) BRAZIL. Smith, F. 1858b: 44 (w.); Mayr, 1862: 663 (q.m.); Goni et al. 1983: 366 (k.); Mariano et al. 2001: 268 (k.). Combination in Camponotus: Mayr, 1862: 663; in C. (Myrmothrix): Forel, 1912i: 91. Senior synonym of herrichi: Roger, 1861b: 164; of merdicola: Dalla Torre, 1893: 250; Forel, 1895b: 104; of alpina, cajurensis, magnifica, subrufescens: Hashmi, 1973: 52.
 * merdicola. Formica merdicola Lund, 1831a: 129 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of rufipes: Dalla Torre, 1893: 250; Forel, 1895b: 104.
 * herrichi. Formica herrichi Mayr, 1853b: 113 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of rufipes: Roger, 1861b: 164.
 * alpina. Camponotus rufipes var. alpina Emery, 1906c: 187 (w.) ARGENTINA. Combination in C. (Myrmothrix): Bruch, 1914: 230. Junior synonym of rufipes: Hashmi, 1973: 52.
 * magnifica. Camponotus (Myrmothrix) rufipes var. magnifica Forel, 1913l: 249 (s.w.) ARGENTINA. Santschi, 1916e: 397 (q.). Junior synonym of rufipes: Hashmi, 1973: 52.
 * cajurensis. Camponotus (Myrmothrix) rufipes forma cajurensis Luederwaldt, 1918: 53 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of rufipes: Hashmi, 1973: 52.
 * subrufescens. Camponotus (Myrmothrix) rufipes var. subrufescens Santschi, 1929d: 314 (w.m.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of rufipes: Hashmi, 1973: 52.