52 replies to this topic

[Aaron567]

Camponotus zonatus

 

Camponotus zonatus is a species of ant native to the Caribbean. It belongs to a group of taxonomically confusing species and subspecies and for a while was known as Camponotus conspicuus inaequalis. In Florida, zonatus only occurs in the Miami metropolitan area and the Florida keys (they thrive in urban environments), so it is possible that they have been introduced from Cuba or the Bahamas. It is probable that the Florida population interbreeds with inaequalis (formerly tortuganus), as intermediate color forms between the two species have been found. The coloration of this species is the most striking thing about them. They are yellow with a yellow/brown variegated gaster, similar to the closely related Camponotus variegatus of Hawaii. They're rather large, with 14-15 millimeter queens and 7-8mm minor workers.

 

On May 7, WanderAnts on this forum found a Camponotus zonatus queen after dusk near Miami, Florida. I received one of them from him on July 1, 2019, already with some eggs and small larvae.

 

Edited by Aaron567, June 27 2021 - 12:06 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Striking coloration!

[CatsnAnts]

Those are gorgeous!

[RushmoreAnts]

Great photos and beautiful queen. I like it.

[Aaron567]

August 1, 2019

 

The first nanitic eclosed a couple of days ago. She's very lanky.

 

[Kaelwizard]

The queen is really odd compared to other Camponotus.

[Acutus]

WOW! The ants and the pics are amazing!!

[Aaron567]

August 25, 2019

 

There are three workers now, and two more on the way. A new batch of at least 20 eggs has just been laid. They've eaten sugar water and cricket legs so far.

 

[Aaron567]

The last colony didn't work out. My fault.

 

On June 18, 2020, I received two new Camponotus zonatus queens from someone who caught them in Miami on May 18. They each had various stages of brood.

 

June 18, 2020

 

 

 

July 8, 2020

 

Today, one queen has her first worker, with at least 5 additional nanitics on the way.

 

Edited by Aaron567, February 23 2021 - 4:06 PM.

[TechAnt]

Nice!

[RushmoreAnts]

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like she's saying, "What'r you look'n at, human?"

Edited by AntsDakota, July 8 2020 - 10:11 AM.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The taxonomic situation is a bit confusing here. I'm pretty sure the correct term for these is C. inaequalis, which was once considered a subspecies of C. conspicuus. While AntWeb and AntWiki refer to it as C. inaequalis, a search for "camponotus inaequalis" returns many sources referring to it as Camponotus conspicuus inaequalis. Either way, they are nice looking ants; I think tropical Camponotus in general are quite cool, especially the minor workers.

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, July 8 2020 - 12:06 PM.

[Antkid12]

They look so cool!

[Aaron567]

The taxonomic situation is a bit confusing here. I'm pretty sure the correct term for these is C. inaequalis, which was once considered a subspecies of C. conspicuus. While AntWeb and AntWiki refer to it as C. inaequalis, a search for "camponotus inaequalis" returns many sources referring to it as Camponotus conspicuus inaequalis. Either way, they are nice looking ants; I think tropical Camponotus in general are quite cool, especially the minor workers.

 

Technically Deyrup (2016) combined C. tortuganus and C. conspicuus inaequalis into one species: Camponotus inaequalis. He did this only to encourage other taxonomists to give this taxonomic situation some more attention and eventually come up with a solution, which will likely be through phylogenetic analysis. I think that once a phylogenetic analysis is done, it has a big chance of raising tortuganus back to species level again, just because of how strikingly different their colors are. So, I keep calling these variegated Miami ants conspicuus inaequalis just to differentiate them from the dark-colored former tortuganus that have a much larger distribution within Florida and are a completely different color.

[Aaron567]

August 19, 2020

 

Cellphone pic, but this colony is doing well. They have their first media worker and will have another one judging by the size of that one pupa.

 

[Aaron567]

September 22, 2020

 

Right at about 30 workers now. A couple days ago I moved them into a Tar Heel Ants Fortress formicarium. No eggs are seen in the pictures below, but they have a nice pile of around 50-60, I would guess. 25+ other brood. Also, since the last update, their first true major worker eclosed.

 

 

 

Here are pictures from when I dumped them into the outworld of their new nest.

 

[nixxx]

AMAZING Pictures !!!!! What camera and lens setup do you shoot them with ?

 

Keep the pictures coming.

[Aaron567]

November 1, 2020

 

Around 60-70 workers now. They have a big brood pile and lots of eggs, but I don't yet have a picture showing just the brood yet. There are a couple of majors that appear to be pretty close to full-sized majors. It's hard to get most of the colony in a single picture because they're keeping almost all of the brood in the outworld, so only around half of the colony is actually inside the nest at any given moment.

 

Edited by Aaron567, November 1 2020 - 11:05 AM.

[Aaron567]

December 4, 2020

 

There are now over 150 workers in this colony. They are doing very well and have a great brood pile, especially eggs. Below is a recent video and a few photos. The pics aren't great because it's practically impossible to use my usual setup to take photos in a vertical nest like this. I will make a flat-laying DIY nest for this colony for when they outgrow this nest in a month or two. 

 

 

[Aaron567]

December 15, 2020

 

This colony has surpassed 240 workers. It has been just over 5.5 months now since the queen got the first nanitic. I have made a nest for them and will probably have it attached by the next update, but I'm not sure if I want to move the entire colony into a new nest or just attach an additional nest so that they live in both. I have been feeding them small roaches and sugar water.