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Genus Camponotus - Carpenter Ants

Carpenter Ant - Camponotus - male winged ant - Camponotus noveboracensis Camponotus pennsylvanicus - female Ant ID please - Camponotus Ant Pile! - Camponotus Ant - Camponotus Carpenter Ant Wielding Unexpected Battle Trophy - Camponotus floridanus - female Unidentified Insect 86 - Camponotus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Vespoidea (Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets)
Family Formicidae (Ants)
Subfamily Formicinae
Genus Camponotus (Carpenter Ants)
Numbers
Nearctica.com lists 51 spp.
Size
6-20 mm, depending on caste
Identification
Large ants, build galleries in wood.
Range
North America
Habitat
Deciduous forests, also suburban areas
Season
All year.
Food
Omnivorous, eat honeydew, sap, living and dead insects, etc. Do not eat wood, only nest in it.
Life Cycle
A eusocial insect with a complex life cycle. See Internet references
Print References
Borror and White, p. 345 (1)
Milne, pp. 823-824, figs. 310, 318 (2)
Arnett, p. 586, fig. 25.45, 47, 48 (3)
Swann and Papp, p. 561, figs. 1215-1216 (4)
Arnett and Jacques, #281 (5)
Internet References
Ohio State University--fact sheet, very detailed life history
Univ. Nebraska: fact sheet,
Works Cited
1.A Field Guide to Insects
By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson
2.National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders
By Lorus and Margery Milne
3.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
4.The Common Insects of North America
By Lester A. Swan, Charles S. Papp
5.Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects
By Dr. Ross H. Arnett, Dr. Richard L. Jacques