Carpenter ant Totally Explained

Everything about Carpenter Ant totally explained

Carpenter ants are large ants (¼ in–1 in) indigenous to many parts of the world. They prefer dead, damp wood in which to build nests. Sometimes carpenter ants will hollow out sections of trees. The most likely species to be infesting a house is the Black carpenter ant, Camponotus pennsylvanicus. However, there are over a thousand other species in the genus Camponotus.

Symbionts

All ants in this genus, and also some related genera, possess an obligate bacterial endosymbiont called Blochmannia. This bacterium has a small genome, and retains genes to biosynthesize essential amino acids and other nutrients. This suggests the bacterium plays a role in ant nutrition. Many Camponotus species are also infected with Wolbachia, another endosymbiont that's widespread across insect groups.

Exploding ants

In at least nine Southeast Asian species of the Cylindricus complex, such as Camponotus saundersi, workers feature greatly enlarged mandibular glands. They can release their contents suicidally by rupturing the intersegmental membrane of the gaster, resulting in a spray of toxic substance from the head, which gave these species the common name "exploding ants".

Selected Species

See List of Camponotus species for a complete listing of species and subspecies.

Camponotus atriceps — Florida carpenter ant; one of the many kinds of carpenter ants that can bite and release a painful acid.
Camponotus chromaiodes — red carpenter ant
Camponotus consobrinus — sugar ant
Camponotus crassus Mayr, 1862
Camponotus ferrugineus (Fab.) — red carpenter ant
Camponotus gigas — Giant forest ant
Camponotus herculeanus
Camponotus kaura
Camponotus ligniperda — an important species in Europe
Camponotus nearcticus (Emery) — smaller carpenter ant
Camponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer) — black carpenter ant
Camponotus punctulatus (Mayr) — Tacuru ant
Camponotus saundersi — Malaysia
Camponotus sericeus
Camponotus taino
Camponotus variegatus — Hawai'ian carpenter ant

Footnotes

The photo on the top of this page says it's worker of the genus Camponotus. Owing to the shape of the thorax and gaster, I say she's a queen and NOT a worker ant. Wood Ant

Further Information

Get more info on 'Carpenter Ant'.

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