15 replies to this topic

[nurbs]

Found these while hiking up in the mountains this past weekend... it is Camponotus for sure, but not sure about the species.

 

Location of collection: Crystal Lake, Azusa Canyon

 

Date of collection: 4-5-2014

 

Habitat of collection: Woodlands/Forest Mountain top flat

 

Length (from head to gaster): female about 5/8 inch or 16mm, males 3/8th or 9.5mm

 

Color, hue, pattern and texture: red and black

Distinguishing characteristics: Major worked have much larger heads than the queen
 

 

Edited by nurbs, April 10 2014 - 8:46 PM.

[dspdrew]

I found about 18 more of these (dealates) last night on Ice House Canyon Trail near Mt. Baldy, CA. This time I was able to see the nests they were coming from, and it is the nests that I have always believed were C. anthrax. James C. Trager thinks they are C. sansabeanus based on length and structure of antennal scapes. After seeing these again last night and comparing the pictures on AntWeb, C. sansabeanus seems much more likely. I grabbed a major worker from one of the nests so I'll be getting some microscope pictures of it, which should give us a definite answer.

[nurbs]

Here is a C. sansabeanus pic from Alex Wild (top left image) of the major and minor worker... looks exactly like the workers I saw, coloring and size.

 

 

http://www.discoverl...tus sansabeanus

Edited by nurbs, April 9 2014 - 9:14 AM.

[dspdrew]

There is a few species including this one that all have the same coloring. The only real way to really know what species they are is to key them out with a microscope.

[dspdrew]

I just realized I might have two different species here, so now this is going to get confusing since I don't actually have alates that I know came from the specific workers I have.

 

Nurbs, would you be able to take the wings off one of those alates and get a picture with pure white lighting?

[nurbs]

Yup, one wing has already come off of one alate, so might just wait it out. Will also be out again this Saturday or Sunday.

[dspdrew]

I'm going back out to Mt. Baldy again today, so I'm going to try to get some alates and their associated workers that I'll be able to pin up.

[nurbs]

Here ya go... one of them shed their wings...
 

 

 

[Febrezeefresh]

Awesome pictures! What are you taking them with?

[nurbs]

Thanks, I am using a Canon with a 100mm macro lens.

[nurbs]

For size comparision... next to a colony of C. clarithorax...

 

[dspdrew]

These things are massive. BTW, I know exactly which of the two species I found match yours exactly. They are more red than the other species I found. Also the underside of the thorax is also that color showing a bit of the color at the very back of the thorax when looking at it from the top. I have an alate and a major of this species now, so I should have the ID soon.

[nurbs]

Yep, they are massive. One of the reasons I like them. 

 

The C. quercicola major I caught a few months ago in this exact same area was even larger.

[dspdrew]

Bryan Verska found a dealate queen of that species while we were out there. So lucky...

[nurbs]

Sweet! Ask him to take some pics... did he find them at dusk or at night? Think you can only find them at night... according to this paper I read they are strictly nocturnal.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure most all Camponotus are nocturnal, and a lot of them have crepuscular nuptial flights. There are some I think, or at least I know that C. laevigatus (another all black one) does forage during the day sometimes.
 
Bryan found the C. quercicola at the same time we found all the other Camponotus queens--about an hour after it got dark.