Camponotus darlingtoni

Camponotus darlingtoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Camponotus
Species:	C. darlingtoni
Binomial name
	Camponotus darlingtoni; Wheeler, W.M., 1934 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Camponotus christmasensis McArthur, 2008; Camponotus rottnesti Donisthorpe, 1941;

An ant of the south-west corner of WA, where it can be found in woodland around Perth and on Rottnest Island (Heterick 2009).

Identification

McArthur (2008), discussing the junior synonym Camponotus christmasensis: A member of the C. claripes group (McArthur 2007a), a close relative of Camponotus insipidus (as C. minimus). Both lack erect setae on the underside of the head and have wide frontal carinae. Compared with C. insipidus, the integument of this species is more finely and sharply striate. Compared with Camponotus fraseri it lacks short sloping distinctive setae on the scapes.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -27.03333333° to -36.35°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Castes

Images from AntWeb


Paratype of Camponotus christmasensis. Worker. Specimen code casent0915748. Photographer Daniela Lehner, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMW, Vienna, Austria.


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Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

darlingtoni. Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 160 (s.w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia, Western Australia: Rottnest I.) (date of publication: 5.x.1934).
- Junior synonym of testaceipes: Brown, 1956a: 39; Taylor, 1987a: 15; Bolton, 1995b: 95.
- Status as species: McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1998: 595; McArthur, 2007a: 331; Heterick, 2009: 70; McArthur, 2014: 120.
- Senior synonym of rottnesti (unnecessary replacement name): Brown, 1956a: 39; McArthur, 2007a: 296.
rottnesti. Camponotus (Myrmophyma) rottnesti Donisthorpe, 1941k: 239.
- Junior synonym of testaceipes: Brown, 1956a: 39; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 120; Taylor, 1987a: 15.
- Unnecessary replacement name for darlingtoni Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 160; hence junior synonym of darlingtoni: Brown, 1956a: 39; Bolton, 1995b: 120; McArthur, 2007a: 296.
christmasensis. Camponotus christmasensis McArthur, 2008: 115, figs. (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia, Western Australia).
- Status as species: McArthur, 2010: 98; McArthur, 2014: 144.
- Junior synonym of darlingtoni: Heterick, 2021: 17.

Type Material

Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934: Lectotype (designated by McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1997: 595), worker, Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934: Paralectotype (designated by McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1997: 595), 1 worker, Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934: Paralectotype (designated by McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1997: 595), 85 workers, 2 queens, Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934: Paralectotype (designated by McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1997: 595), 1 worker, Mullewa, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934: Paralectotype (designated by McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1997: 595), 17 workers, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934: Paralectotype (designated by McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1997: 595), 3 workers, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.
Camponotus christmasensis: Holotype, worker, Christmas Rocks, South Australia, Australia, 36°21′0″S 140°21′0″E / 36.35°S 140.35°E / -36.35; 140.35, South Australian Museum.
Camponotus christmasensis: Paratype, 2 workers, Christmas Rocks, South Australia, Australia, 36°21′0″S 140°21′0″E / 36.35°S 140.35°E / -36.35; 140.35, McArthur,A.J., ANIC32-053465, Australian National Insect Collection.
Camponotus christmasensis: Paratype, 4 workers, Christmas Rocks, South Australia, Australia, 36°21′0″S 140°21′0″E / 36.35°S 140.35°E / -36.35; 140.35, McArthur,A.J., ANIC32-053466, Australian National Insect Collection.
Camponotus christmasensis: Paratype, 3 workers, Christmas Rocks, 36°21'S 140°21'E, South Australia, Australia, 36°21′0″S 140°21′0″E / 36.35°S 140.35°E / -36.35; 140.35, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna.
Camponotus christmasensis: Paratype, 3 workers, Christmas Rocks, South Australia, Australia, 36°21′0″S 140°21′0″E / 36.35°S 140.35°E / -36.35; 140.35, South Australian Museum.

Taxonomic Notes

McArthur, Adams & Shattuck, 1997: 595: Brown (1956) synonymised Wheeler’s C. darlingtoni with Smith’s C. testaceipes (C. testaceipes is preoccupied and its replacement name is C. terebrans). This synonymy was based on Dr E. O. Wilson’s comparison of Wheeler’s types in MCZ with Smith’s type in BMNH, as Dr Brown did not compare the specimens himself. During this study, we have re-examined this material and find that C. darlingtoni is a valid species distinct from C. terebrans. In particular, C. darlingtoni lacks the cluster of elongate J-shaped setae on the mouthparts, a characteristic of the C. wiederkehri species-group, to which C. terebrans belongs. Thus, C. darlingtoni is removed from synonymy with C. terebrans and is here excluded from the C. wiederkehri species-group. To secure the identity of C. darlingtoni, a worker from Margaret River, Western Australia, which is housed in the MCZ collection, is here designated a lectotype.

Heterick (2021): Camponotus christmasensis is clearly conspecific with C. darlingtoni. The two ants are morphologically identical. Moreover, the West Australian data points on the distribution map for C. darlingtoni in McArthur (2007) exactly match those for C. christmasensis in the distribution map in McArthur (2010), in which publication C. darlingtoni is not mentioned at all! This suggests some confusion on the part of the author.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Donisthorpe, H. 1941 Entomologists Monthly Magazine 77:239. Synonymical Notes etc., on Formicidae (Hym.). Camponotus (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934, J. Roy. Soc. West Aust., 20: 160, West Australia; Camponotus (Myrmocladoecus) sanctaefidei Della Torre subsp. darlingtoni Wheeler, 1934, Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 77: 232, Trinidad. I am informed that the American publication appeared in print first, and therefore propose the name Camponotus (Myrmophyma) rottnesti nom. n. for the Australian insect.

Description

Worker

Worker maxima Length 8-9 mm. Head subtrapezoidal, as broad as long or somewhat broader than long, high and convex above, flat below, with straight posterior and concave occipital border and convex sides. Eyes small, flat; ocelli present but minute. Mandibles stout, convex, with six subequal teeth. Clypeus subcarinate, its median section as long as broad, its anterior border straight in the middle, deeply sinuate on each side, not projecting beyond the anterior borders of the cheeks. Frontal area triangular, indistinct; frontal groove very distinct; frontal carinae approximately anteriorly, more separated and subparallel posteriorly. Antennae slender; scapes not extending beyond the posterior border of the head.Thorax short, its dorsal outline as far back as the epinotal angle evenly arcuate; promesonotal suture not impressed; metanotum present, but poorly defined posteriorly; epinotum laterally compressed, in profile with subequal base and declivity meeting at a distinct obtuse angle, the base straight and slightly sloping, the declivity more so and slightly concave. Petiolar scale rather high and narrow, thin, with convex anterior and flat surface, the superior border sharp and compressed, from behind semicircularly rounded, the sides feebly convex, converging ventrally. Gaster broadly elliptical. Legs moderately long, the fore femora increassated; middle and hind tibiae subterete, with a series of five or six short spines on their flexor surface. Finely and sharply shagreened, shining, gaster and posterior portion of head more so than the remainder of the body and the appendages; mandibles subopaque, coarsely punctate and like the clypeus and anterior portion of the head more coarsely shagreened or reticulate than the posterior portion. Cheeks, front and thoracic dorsum sparsely punctate; pleurae finely longitudinally striate; gaster delicately, transversely striolate, with sparser, piligerous punctates. Hairs white, erect, rather short, flexuous, very sparse; pubescence appressed, very short and sparse on the gaster and cheeks, longer on the pronotum, mesonotum and head, short and abundant on the antennae, longer and coarser on the legs, especially on the tibiae, where it is less appressed. Black; mandibles, clypeus, anterior border of cheeks, antennae, neck and posterior border of pronotum castaneous; posterior borders of gastric segments rather broadly, sordid whitish. legs, including the coxae, testaceous; tibiae slightly darker than the femora, tarsi red.

Worker media Length 7-7.5 mm. Head much smaller than in the maxima, about one-sixth longer than broad, less narrowed anteriorly, with feebly and evenly rounded sides. Antennal scapes extending nearly one-third their length beyond the posterior border of the head. Pronotum semicircular anteriorly, flattened above, with more distinctly marginate sides; in profile with the dorsal outline broadly arcuate and made up of four subequal straight or nearly straight segments corresponding to the pronotum, mesonotum, base and declivity of epinotum, the anterior end of the mesonotum raised rather abruptly above the posterior end of the pronotum and both the base and the slightly shorter declivity of the epinotum distinctly concave so that the angle between them is pronounced. Petiolar scale narrower and thicker than in the maxima, with blunt superior border. In sculpture, pilosity and color very much like the maxima but the legs are more brownish testaceous and the basal halves of the coxae and femora are fuscous, the pale posterior borders of the gastric segments narrower.

Worker minima Length 4-5.5 mm. Very similar to the media but the head longer, nearly one and one-third times as long as broad, with more subparallel sides, more convex eyes and the antennal scapes extending nearly half their length beyond the posterior border. Sides of pronotum sharply marginate; dorsal outline of thorax similar but the epinotum lower and more sloping and its base straight and nearly twice as long as the declivity. Petiolar scale much ticker and narrower, in profile almost subcuboidal, with straight anterior and posterior surfaces and horizontal, feebly rounded superior surface. Pilosity and coloration as in the media, but the head and thorax more opaque and more sharply shagreened; legs usually even more brownish.

Queen

(dealated). Length 11 mm. Head trapezoidal, very nearly broad as long, with straight posterior border and nearly straight, anteriorly converging sides. Eyes small but somewhat more convex than in the maxima. Antennal scapes reaching about one-fifth their length beyond the posterior border of the head. Thorax oval, about twice as long as long as broad, anteriorly distinctly broader than the head; mesonotum slightly broader than long, flattened posteriorly; epinotum short, its base convex, much shorter than the steep, concave declivity into which it passes without an angle. Petiolar scale like that of the maxima, but thicker and broader, compressed above, with its superior border somewhat produced upward in the middle. Gaster elongate-elliptical. Sculpture, pilosity and color as in the maxima, but the whole pronotum castaneous.

Type Material

Described from numerous specimens found nesting under logs and stones at Margaret River, Western Australia (type-locality) during October and November 1931, a single worker maxima and several minimae taken by Dr Darlington and myself at Longreach Bay (X.24'31) and Government House, Rottnest Island (X.31.'31) and a single small worker from King's Park, Perth.

References

Brown, W. L., Jr. 1956c. Some synonymies in the ant genus Camponotus. Psyche (Camb.) 63: 38-40 (page 39, senior synonym of the unnecessary replacement name rottnesti and junior synonym of testaceipes)
Heterick, B. E. 2009a. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206. Part 1.
Heterick, B.E. 2021. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part I: Systematics. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 86, 1-245 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2021.001-245).
Heterick, B.E. 2022. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part II: Distribution and biology. Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement 86: 247-510 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2022.247-510).
McArthur, A. J.; Adams, M.; Shattuck, S. O. 1998 [1997]. A morphological and molecular review of Camponotus terebrans (Lowne) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Aust. J. Zool. 45: 579-598 (page 595, Revived from synonym)
Wheeler, W. M. 1934d. Contributions to the fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. No. IX. The ants. J. R. Soc. West. Aust. 20: 137-163 (page 160, soldier, worker, queen described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

McArthur A. J., M. Adams, and S. O. Shattuck. 1998. A morphological and molecular review of Camponotus terebrans (Lowne) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Aust. J. Zool. 45: 579-598.
Wheeler W. M. 1934. Contributions to the fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. No. IX. The ants. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 20: 137-163.