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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Ants (Formicoidea) » Ants (Formicidae) » Formicinae » Camponotini » Carpenter Ants (Camponotus)
Photo#56134
no clue - Camponotus
Copyright © 2006 Micki Killoran

no clue - Camponotus
San Juan National Forest, Montezuma County, Colorado, USA
June 4, 2006
Size: ~15 mm
I'm wondering if this is an ant? There seem to be a lot of them around.
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Contributed by Micki Killoran on 6 June, 2006 - 3:01pm
Last updated 25 June, 2007 - 4:12pm

Moved
Moved from Ants.
… George Waldren, 25 June, 2007 - 4:12pm login or register to post comments

Male carpenter ant.
It is indeed an ant. Each year, mature ant colonies launch swarms of winged reproductives (males and females, collectively called alates). This happens at least once per year. The males die shortly after (hopefully, for them) mating. The winged queens, after mating, land on the ground, actively break off their wings at a weak spot, and go about looking for a nesting site. One mating is all she needs for her lifetime, as she is able to store sperm and parcel it out as needed to fertilize her eggs. This specimen is a male carpenter ant, genus Camponotus.
… Eric R. Eaton, 6 June, 2006 - 3:48pm login or register to post comments

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