Camponotus floridanus
| Camponotus floridanus | |
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| Camponotus floridanus worker | |
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| Species: | C. floridanus
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| Binomial name | |
| Camponotus floridanus (Buckley, 1866)
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Camponotus floridanus, or Florida carpenter ant,[1] is a species of ant in the genus Camponotus.[2] First described as Formica floridana by Buckley in 1866,[3] the species was moved to Camponotus by Mayr in 1886.[4] The ant is widespread in Florida and occurs in nearly every county of the state.
Biology
Description
Camponotus floridanus is one of the most familiar ant species in Florida owing both to its large size and conspicuous coloration. Workers and queens have a bright to dullish orange or brownish orange head and thorax punctuated sharply by a deep black gaster. Male alates on the other hand are more evenly distributed in their coloration, which primarily ranges in the rusty to cider oranges. Queens can vary from 12-17 mm in size, and the highly polymorphic workers potentially attaining similar lengths with the largest majors reaching 10-13 mm. Minors and media are typically around 4-7 mm.
Behavior
These ants are extremely aggressive and fast moving, quickly swarming any disturbance to the nest. Their defense is unyielding and their bites relentless, with workers quickly and meticulously checking for weaknesses in the skin, targeting vulnerable areas such as the nail cuticles or skin creases. Major workers can deliver particularly devastating bites as their mandibles more readily pierce the skin, for which they then spray noxious formic acid onto the inflicted site. The unusual aggression of this Camponotus species may be an adaptation to its nesting habits, as they commonly inhabit moist and fragile deadwood that can be easily broken apart.
Outside of deadwood, colonies may be found nesting within the base of a living tree or a tree hollow. Even artificial structures such as hollow poles or fencing may be taken residence. Colonies prefer shaded areas in which to nest, such as in woodlands, though any area with many trees which provide adequate shading can potentially harbor colonies. Floridanus also seems to be more readily tolerant of disturbed areas of human habitation, making them a common sight in the densely populated suburbs of Florida. In certain areas these ants can be quite populous, and during mating flights the winged individuals can be numerous, with concerned property owners finding them on the walls of stores, buildings and homes. These ants however do not usually excavate into wood and are thus not generally considered a threat to structures unlike some other wood-boring species of Camponotus.
Floridanus primarily forages at night, though workers from larger colonies may be seen foraging during the day. Different worker castes also perform different roles in the colony, with the smaller workers caring for the brood and queen, maintaining the nest and foraging for food. Major workers however primarily defend the nest and do not venture far, unless travelling to and from the numerous satellite nests the colony occupies. Northern populations undergo a diapause during the winter, while southernmost populations do not experience much dramatic and extensive diapause periods, if not at all, due to the warm tropical climate in South Florida.
Reproduction
Nuptial flights begin around May and peak in the summer months. Flights follow after heavy rains have raised the humidity of the air to 80-90% and temperatures around 80+°F half an hour after sunset. The female alates mate in the air once then ground themselves to search for a location to establish a new colony. Floridanus is highly productive and colonies grow rapidly, reaching 1,000 workers within the first year and potentially exceeding 10,000 individuals in a mature colony some years later. Both male and female alates are attracted to bright white lights and can be found en masse around street, court, and field lights.
Queens are fully claustral and colonies are monogynous (contain one queen).
Diet
The Florida carpenter ant is omnivorous, taking arthropod food items as well as sweets, such as the sugary secretions produced by sap sucking insects in which they tend to and defend. Like other Camponotus, they have their own species of symbiotic bacteria in the genus Blochmannia that helps supplement their nutrient poor diets. These bacteria recycle waste products, such as urates from animal urine, into usable amino acids for the ants. [5]
Taxonomic status
C. floridanus is closely related to Camponotus atriceps, and may possibly be considered a subspecies of C.atriceps that diverged after a population became isolated within Florida. More phylogenetic and biochemical analysis is needed to determine the evolutionary history between C. floridanus and C. atriceps and in order ascertain the formers status as a separate species or a subspecies.
References
- ^ Simola, D. F.; Ye, C.; Mutti, N. S.; Dolezal, K.; Bonasio, R.; Liebig, J.; Reinberg, D.; Berger, S. L. (2012). "A chromatin link to caste identity in the carpenter ant Camponotus floridanus". Genome Research. 23 (3): 486. doi:10.1101/gr.148361.112. PMC 3589537. PMID 23212948.
- ^ Bolton, B. (2015). "Camponotus floridanus". AntCat. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ Buckley, S. B. (1866). "Descriptions of new species of North American Formicidae". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia. 6: 152–172.
- ^ Mayr, G. (1886). "Die Formiciden der Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 36: 419–464.
- ^ Feldhaar, Heike; Straka, Josef; Krischke, Markus; Berthold, Kristina; Stoll, Sascha; Mueller, Martin J.; Gross, Roy (2007-10-30). "Nutritional upgrading for omnivorous carpenter ants by the endosymbiont Blochmannia". BMC Biology. 5 (1): 48. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-5-48. ISSN 1741-7007.
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External links
Media related to Camponotus floridanus at Wikimedia Commons- University of Florida Entomology & Nematology Department web page on The Florida Carpenter Ant
