Camponotus samius

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Camponotus samius
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Subgenus: Tanaemyrmex
Species complex: samius
Species: C. samius
Binomial name
Camponotus samius
Forel, 1889

Camponotus samius casent0905290 p 1 high.jpg

Camponotus samius casent0905290 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Synonyms

Camponotus samius is a thermophile species most often recorded from pine forests. It also occurs in stream valleys with deciduous trees, suburban areas with maquis, pastures with shrubs or from dry hills in the coastal area. Nests are located under large stones. Workers are active usually at dawn and dusk. In Cyprus, Salata et al. (2023) report that Camponotus samius has been collected from road sides, nature trails, pine, deciduous and cedar forests as well as riverbanks close to the seashore.

Identification

A member of the Camponotus samius species complex (Tanaemyrmex).

Salata et al. (2020) - Hind tibia and scape with decumbent to suberect pilosity but without additional erect setae; gena with numerous erect setae; minor and major workers with head uniformly black to dark brown, mesosoma and legs with variable colouration from yellow to reddish-brown, gaster in major and minor workers always with distinctly brighter basal part; pilosity on gaster sparse and thin.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

This is an uncommon southern and eastern species, recorded from the Aegean Islands, Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Macedonia, the Peloponnese, Sterea Ellas and Thrace (Borowiec et al., 2022).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 45.121554° to 36.408889°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece (type locality), Romania, Türkiye.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Biology

Borowiec and Salata (2022), for Greece - Thermophilous species, prefers open habitats such as dry hills with sparse vegetation, pastures with shrubs, suburban ruderal areas but noted also from luminous coniferous forests, shady pine forest and luminous stream valleys with deciduous forest. Nests under large stones. All collecting sites were at low and mid altitude, from sea level to 670 m.

Castes

Worker

Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, and Borowiec 2020. Figures 15-16. Camponotus samius 15: major worker; 16: minor worker; scale bars = 2mm.
Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, and Borowiec 2020. Figures 24-25. Camponotus samius 24: major worker; 25: minor worker.

Nomenclature

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

  • samius. Camponotus rubripes r. samius Forel, 1889: 262 (s.w.) GREECE (Samos).
    • Type-material: syntype major and minor workers (numbers not stated).
    • Type-locality: Greece: Samos I., nr Marathokampos, 1887 (E. von Oertzen).
    • Type-depositories: MHNG, MSNG.
    • Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 100.
    • Subspecies of maculatus: Emery, in Dalla Torre, 1893: 241 (footnote), 251; Emery, 1896d: 370 (in list); Emery, 1905d: 35; Forel, 1906c: 187; Emery, 1908a: 192; Forel, 1911d: 359; Emery, 1914d: 159; Emery, 1915h: 2; Stitz, 1917: 351; Hamann & Klemm, 1976: 677 (anachronism).
    • Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 251; Emery, 1920c: 6, 10 (in key); Emery, 1925b: 100; Finzi, 1930d: 318; Menozzi, 1936d: 300; Aktaç, 1977: 125; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 59; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 284 (in key); Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Collingwood, 1993b: 195; Bolton, 1995b: 122; Radchenko, 1996b: 1200 (in key); Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Petrov, 2006: 109 (in key); Lapeva-Gjonova, et al. 2010: 46; Legakis, 2011: 32; Karaman, C. et al. 2011: 191; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 481; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8; Karaman, C. & Aktaç, 2013: 53 (in key); Borowiec, L. 2014: 41; Lebas, et al. 2016: 154; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2018: 5; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 44; Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, et al. 2020: 554; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2022: 130.
    • Senior synonym of spagnolinii: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 59; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Bolton, 1995b: 122; Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8; Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, et al. 2020: 554.
    • Material of the unavailable name bosphoricus referred here by Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Bolton, 1995b: 122; Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8; Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, et al. 2020: 554.
    • Material of the unavailable name cognatopilicornis referred here by Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, et al. 2020: 554.
    • Distribution: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy (Sicily), Serbia, Turkey..
  • spagnolinii. Camponotus samius var. spagnolinii Emery, 1920c: 6.
    • [First available use of Camponotus maculatus subsp. samius var. spagnolinii Emery, 1905d: 36 (in text) (w.) TURKEY; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: Turkey: Marmora Sea, Principe I. (= Büyükada) (A. Spagnolini).
    • Type-depositories: MHNG, MSNG.
    • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1908a: 192.
    • Subspecies of samius: Emery, 1925b: 100.
    • Junior synonym of samius: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 59; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 219; Bolton, 1995b: 124; Radchenko, 1997d: 809; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 8; Salata, Khalili-Moghadam, et al. 2020: 554.

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

Description

Worker

Borowiec and Salata (2022) - Moderately large to large, polymorphic; minor workers HL: 1.890-2.090 (mean 2.030); HW: 1.063-1.290 (mean 1.218); SL: 2.283-2.600 (mean 2.458); EL: 0.452- 0.484 (mean 0.470); ML: 2.93-3.48; MW: 1.16-1.31. Color. Head partly yellow to rusty yellow, with brownish spot of diffused borders on vertex, never uniformly yellow, mesosoma and petiolar scale uniformly yellow, gaster bicolor, first tergite and basal part of second tergite yellow, rest of tergites brown to black except yellowish posterior margin, first two sternites yellow, subsequent tergites brownish yellow to brown, antennae and legs yellow; in intermediate workers as the size increases, the body becomes darker and darker, head from brown to completely black, mesosoma from yellow to rusty yellow, dorsally sometimes with brown patches, first and second gastral tergites dorsally with brown to black patches, antennal scapus brown to black, funicle rusty yellow, tibiae and tarsi brown. Head. Very elongate, 1.6-1.8 times as long as wide, sides in front of eyes straight and parallel, behind eyes regularly softly rounded, posterior margin rounded or in the middle straight . Clypeus pentagonal, in the middle forms rectangular plate protruding anterad, its anterior margin straight, simple to slightly crenulate, on sides anterior clypeal margin shallowly emarginate, sides of clypeus strongly converging posterad, straight, posterior margin straight but in the middle shallowly emarginate by frontal triangle, clypeal plate along middle with obtuse to sharp keel, whole surface with microreticulation, surface strongly shiny l, covered with sparse and short decumbent to subdecumbent hairs, anterior margin in the middle with 5-7 very long setae, on sides with few short additional setae, central plate with several long, erected setae. Head microreticulate, sculpture in posterior half and sides of head tends to form transverse or circular striation, behind eyes microsculpture sometimes diffused, background shiny, covered with sparse and short appressed pubescence, appears partly unhaired, whole surface of head, including, gena, sides and occipital part of headwith numerous erected setae, ventral side of head with more than 10 short to long erected setae. Scape very elongate, thin, 1.9-2.1 times as long as width of head, slightly, regularly widened from base to apex, its surface microreticulate but shiny, on frontal and ventral surface mostly with short and sparse appressed pubescence, on dorsal surface, especially in apical half, with subdecumbent to suberect hairs. Funicular segments elongate, thin, first segment approximately 3.8-4.0 times as long as wide and 1.2-1.3 times as long as second segment, third segment distinctly longer than second, the rest of funicular segments very elongate. Eyes large, elongate oval, 0.27 length of head. Mandibles stout, diffusely microreticulate and punctate, surface shiny. Mesosoma. Elongate, 2.5-2.7 times as long as wide, distinctly sculptured tending to form longitudinal, transverse and oblique striation, on sides of pronotum microsculpture often diffused, surface shiny. In lateral view dorsum form regular arch, without mesonotal groove, propodeum never with shallow concavity, posteriorly very broadly rounded. Surface of mesosomal dorsum with short and scarce, hardly visible depressed to decumbent hairs, lateral sides partly unhaired, pronotum with 8-14, mesonotum 5-16, propodeum 8-14 very long erected setae, number of erected setae increases with the size of the ant. Waist and gaster. Petiole in form of broad, very thick scale with convex anterior and flat posterior face, apex regularly rounded; surface with distinct transverse striation covered with short and sparse appressed hairs, apical crest with 6-8 long erected setae. Gaster shorter than mesosoma, tergites with fine transverse microstriation, interspaces without additional microsculpture thus surface of gaster appears strongly shiny, covered with short and scarce appressed hairs; all tergites with numerous very long erected setae, appressed hairs on posterior margin of tergites long, reaching to 2/3 or to the end of the transparent margin. Legs. Elongate and thin, hind femora only slightly shorter than mesosoma, surface of legs covered with long and sparse appressed hairs, dorsum of hind femora and posterior margin of hind tibiae with subdecumbent to semierect hairs, inner margin of tibiae in almost 3/4 length with several thorns. Ventral surface of fore femora with 6-8 long erected setae.

Major workers: HL: 3.183-3.730 (mean 3.385); HW: 2.733-3.417 (mean 3.021); SL: 2.833-3.330 (mean 3.027); EL: 0.631-0.730 (mean 0.677); ML: 4.25-4.58; MW: 1.84-2.10. Head always dark colored, dark brown to black, sometimes clypeus and frons slightly paler than rest of surface, mandibles from yellow to black, scapus mostly brown to black except pale base and apex, funicle from yellow to rusty yellow, mesosoma usually bicolor, pronotal dorsum and mesonotum brown to black, sides with rusty yellow to yellowish brown patches , sometimes pronotum and mesonotum completely brown with rusty sutures, propodeum usually mostly rusty yellow with brown base, sometimes whole mesosoma rusty yellow, petiole yellow to rusty yellow, gaster predominantly blakc , first and second tergites dorsally with large brown to black patch, coxa rusty yellow, femora completely rusty yellow or slightly darkened apically, tibiae and tarsi brown, external margin of tibiae sometimes almost black, sometimes tibiae and tarsi rusty yellow. Head stouter,1.1-1.2 times as long as wide, widest in basal ¼ length, sides softly rounded and converging anterad, posterior margin concave, rectangular anterior plate of clypeus not to shallowly emarginate on sides, central plate of clypeus head numerous erected setae, gular area with more than 20 short to long erected setae. Scape proportionally shorter, 1.0-1.1 times as long as width of head. Eyes proportionally smaller, 0.20 length of head; mesosoma stouter, 2.1-2.3 times as long as wide, in profile forming more convex arch, propodeum with less obtusely posterior angle. Mesosomal dorsum on each segment with numerous erected setae, petiolar crest 10-14 very long erected setae. Ventral surface of fore femora with more than 10 long erected setae.

Queen

Borowiec and Salata (2022) - head yellowish brown, mesosoma predominantly yellow, gaster yellow basally, brown posteriorly.

Male

Borowiec and Salata (2022) - body and legs black.

Type Material

Salata et al. (2020) - Syntype major and minor workers, Marathokampos, Samos, Greece (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa) Syntype major and minor workers images examined, AntWeb, CASENT0910260 and CASENT0910259, photos by Zach Lieberman.

Salata et al. (2023) states: Camponotus samius Forel, 1889: 262 (s.,w.): Lectotype workers, Camponotus rubripes r. samius., Samos, Marathokampos (MHNG) (leg. von Oertzen) [syntype images examined, AntWeb, CASENT0910259, photos by Alexandra Westrich and Zach Lieberman available on https://www.AntWeb.org]. However the source of the lectotype designation is not stated and could not be located (note also that a lectotype is a single individual, therefore stating "lectotype workers" (plural) is incorrect).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Agosti, D. and C.A. Collingwood. 1987. A provisional list of the Balkan ants (Hym. Formicidae) and a key to the worker caste. I. Synonymic list. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 60: 51-62
  • Aktaç, N.. "Studies on the myrmecofauna of Turkey I. Ants of Siirt, Bodrum and Trabzon." Istanbul Universitesi Fen Fakultesi Mecmuasi. Seri B 41 (1977): 115-135.
  • Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
  • Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
  • Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2018. Notes on ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Samos Island, Greece. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-13.
  • Bracko G., K. Kiran, C. Karaman, S. Salata, and L. Borowiec. 2016. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Greek Thrace. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7945. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e7945
  • Collingwood, C. A. 1993. A Comparitive Study of the Ant Fauna of Five Greek Islands. Biologia Gallo-hellenica. 20,1:191-197
  • Collingwood, C. A.. "A comparative study of the ant fauna of five Greek islands." Biologia Gallo-Hellenica 20 (1993): 191-197.
  • Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
  • Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
  • Emery, C.. "Escursioni zoologiche del Dr. Enrico Festa nell'Isola di Rodi. XII. Formiche." Bollettino del Museo di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparatadella Reale Università di Torino 30 (1915): 1-7.
  • Emery, C.. "Le forme paleartiche del Camponotus maculatus F." Rendiconti delle Sessioni della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna (n.s.)9 (1905): 27-44.
  • Forel A. 1911. Fourmis nouvelles ou intéressantes. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 47: 331-400.
  • Hamann H. H. F., and W. Klemm. 1976. Ergebnisse der von Dr. O. Paget und Dr. E. Kritscher auf Rhodos durchgeführten zoologischen Exkursionen. XVI. Formicidae. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 80: 669-679.
  • Karaman C., N. Aktac, and K. Kiran. 2009. Ants of the genus CamponotusMayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Kaz Mountains, Turkey, with descriptions of sexuals of Camponotus candiotes Emery, 1894 and Camponotus ionius Emery, 1920. Tubitak 35(2): 183-197.
  • Kiran K. C. Karaman, A. Lapeva-Gjonova, and V. Aksoy. 2017. Two new species of the "ultimate" parasitic ant genus Teleutomyrmex KUTTER, 1950 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Western Palaearctic. Myrmecological News 25: 145-155.
  • Kiran K., and C. Karaman. 2012. First annotated checklist of the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3548: 1-38.
  • Kiran K., and N. Aktac. 2006. The vertical distribution of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Samanh Mountains, Turkey. Linzer Biol. Beitr. 38(2): 1105-1122.
  • Lapeva-Gjonova A., and K. Kiran. 2012. Ant fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Strandzha (Istranca) Mountain and adjacent Black Sea coast. North-western journal of Zoology 8(1): 72-84.
  • Lapeva-Gjonova, L., V. Antonova, A. G. Radchenko, and M. Atanasova. "Catalogue of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Bulgaria." ZooKeys 62 (2010): 1-124.
  • Menozzi C. 1929. Ricerche faunistiche nelle isole italiane dell'Egeo. Imenotteri (formiche). Archivio Zoologico Italiano. 13: 145-146.
  • Salata S., and L Borowiec. 2017. Species of Tetramorium semilaeve complex from Balkans and western Turkey, with description of two new species of (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 62:279–313.
  • Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2018. Taxonomic and faunistic notes on Greek ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-51.
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