Friday, May 15, 2009

Camponotus subbarbatus


Camponotus subbarbatus started flying today. They seem to fly in the late morning and mid afternoon. Today was ungodly humid, partly windy, and it had rained all last night. Though one of the smaller Camponotus, in the Myrmentoma subgroup, it is one of the prettiest ants around. Normally the smaller Camponotus are all black, polymorphic, species that act like any ordinary Lasius would. All the Camponotus in this group, that I'm aware of, have small colonies of maybe 3,000 ants at most. Most of these are easy to over look, but this has a brightly colored banded abdomen.


Unlike the major pest species of Carpenter Ants, Camponotus pennsylvanicus, C. modoc, etc... these ants are barely noticeable. I've had colonies living in my home before but a whole colony can live happily in a small block of wood. Not exactly a lot of structural damage.