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Genus Camponotus - Carpenter Ants
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Vespoidea (Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets)
Family Formicidae (Ants)
Subfamily Formicinae
Genus Camponotus (Carpenter Ants)
Pronunciation cam-po-NOH-tus Explanation of Names Camponotus means "flat back", referring to the flattened or weakly curved dorsal mesosomal profile Numbers Nearctica.com lists 51 spp. Size workers polymorphic, ranging from 4-7 mm in small species, 7-13+mm in large species
queens 9-20mm
males 5-13mm Identification Most species are more easily identified from the major workers. Many are large ants; all have antennal bases separated from clypeal border by a space at least equal to the maximum diameter of the scape, mesosomal dorsal profile a continuous curve from pronotum through propodeum (except some subgenus Colobopsis, and these are easily recongnized by the truncate and heavily punctate circumoral portion of the head of majors). Habitat Deciduous forests to deserts, a few in grassland and boreal forest. Also urban and suburban areas; some build galleries in wood, or inhabit within-wall spaces in buildings or economically important trees, and are considered pests. Alates of early-flying species are reared in late summer, then overwinter in the nest. This is one of the most species-rich ant genera, with at least 1000 species world-wide. Most subgenus Myrmentoma and all Colobopsis are strictly arboreal, while most Tanaemyrmex and some others nest in soil. The rest vary or occur somewhere in between. Season Active during the frost-free season in the north, all year during warm weather in southernmost USA. Mating flights of the majority of species occur late April-May, but subgenus Colobopsis and subtropical and desert species fly in summer. Food Omnivorous - eat honeydew, sap, living and dead insects, etc. Do not eat wood, only nest in it, and usually only after fungi have softened it. Life Cycle A eusocial insect with a complex life cycle. See Internet references Remarks Ant taxonomists generally consider the subgeneric classification of this group as a shambles, filled with unsubtantiated and arbitrary divisions. there are also questions about the monophyly of this huge group, and it separation from another large group, the Old World genus Polyrhachis. Fortunately, most of the Norht American species fit fairly easily into the subgenera represented here.
" Camponotus species are often called "carpenter ants" because many species nest in dry or moist rotten wood, and some may nest in wooden houses, sheds, etc. However, in the East, C. americanus and C. castaneus nest in soil, and in the West, perhaps the majority of species (except most in the subgenera Camponotus and Myrmentoma) nest in soil." [from comment by James C. Trager here.] 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
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