Camponotus vagus
Encyclopedia
Camponotus vagus is a species
of large, black, West Palaearctic carpenter ant
with a wide range
that includes much of Europe
, a large area of Asia
, and part of Africa
.
" on its exoskeleton
. A eusocial
insect
, individuals have continuous allometric variation in size and morphology
to facilitate task allocation and partitioning of work
. Workers are 6–12 mm in length. The larger "major workers" act as guards for in defence of the colony and protect the smaller "minor workers" when the latter go foraging
outside the nests. The powerful mandibles of the major workers are capable of decapitating smaller arthropod
s captured as food and dismembering
smaller ants of other species.
icolous (living in a mutualistic relationship with aphid
s and feeding upon the honeydew
these smaller insects release from the terminations
of their alimentary canals
).
but has an overall range from southern Scandinavia
to north-western Africa and from Portugal
to Altai, Mongolia
. Evidence of this species in Northern Europe
is scattered and isolated; Southwards it is more common. In Norway
, an extreme area of its range, is a rare and often overlooked species. There are few records of C. vagus in Sweden
and Finland
, and many of these are outdated.
are commonly found in dry habitat
s, especially open forest
s and forest edges. C. vagus most typically builds its nests in dead wood, but colonies can also be founder under stones. An average colony has 1,000 to 4,000 workers, but larger colonies contain up to 10,000 individuals.
Camponotus, may be referred to by the English language
common name
"carpenter ant
" but it is known by other names across its range. In the Netherlands
, for example, this species is known in Dutch
as zwarte reuzenmier, i.e. "black giant ant."
. CPPV affects bee
s, ants, and mite
s.
As just noted, Camponotus vagus ifranensis (Cagniant, 1987) is recognized as a subspecies
. Previously identified subspecies Camponotus vagus kodoricus (Forel, 1913) and Camponotus vagus vagus (Scopoli, 1763) are no longer recognized.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of large, black, West Palaearctic carpenter ant
Carpenter ant
Carpenter ants are large ants indigenous to many parts of the world. They prefer dead, damp wood in which to build nests. They do not eat it, however, unlike termites. Sometimes carpenter ants will hollow out sections of trees. The most likely species to be infesting a house in the United States...
with a wide range
Range (biology)
In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...
that includes much of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, a large area of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and part of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Description
Camponotus vagus is a relatively distinctive species that is easily identified by its large size, uniform black colour, and the long and dense body "hairsSeta
Seta is a biological term derived from the Latin word for "bristle". It refers to a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.-Animal setae:In zoology, most "setae" occur in invertebrates....
" on its exoskeleton
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
. A eusocial
Eusociality
Eusociality is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification....
insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
, individuals have continuous allometric variation in size and morphology
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
to facilitate task allocation and partitioning of work
Task allocation and partitioning of social insects
Task allocation and partitioning refers to the way that tasks are chosen, assigned, subdivided, and coordinated . Closely associated are issues of communication that enable these actions to occur....
. Workers are 6–12 mm in length. The larger "major workers" act as guards for in defence of the colony and protect the smaller "minor workers" when the latter go foraging
Foraging
- Definitions and significance of foraging behavior :Foraging is the act of searching for and exploiting food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce...
outside the nests. The powerful mandibles of the major workers are capable of decapitating smaller arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s captured as food and dismembering
Dismemberment
Dismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
smaller ants of other species.
Diet
C. vagus is known to be both carnivorous and aphidAphid
Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...
icolous (living in a mutualistic relationship with aphid
Aphid
Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...
s and feeding upon the honeydew
Honeydew (secretion)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the gut's terminal opening. Honeydew is particularly common as a secretion in the Hemipteran...
these smaller insects release from the terminations
Rectum
The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. The human rectum is about 12 cm long...
of their alimentary canals
Gastrointestinal tract
The human gastrointestinal tract refers to the stomach and intestine, and sometimes to all the structures from the mouth to the anus. ....
).
Range
This species is especially prevalent in Central EuropeCentral Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
but has an overall range from southern Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
to north-western Africa and from Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to Altai, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. Evidence of this species in Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
is scattered and isolated; Southwards it is more common. In Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, an extreme area of its range, is a rare and often overlooked species. There are few records of C. vagus in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, and many of these are outdated.
Habitat
The coloniesColony (biology)
In biology, a colony reference to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defense or the ability to attack bigger prey. Some insects live only in colonies...
are commonly found in dry habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s, especially open forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and forest edges. C. vagus most typically builds its nests in dead wood, but colonies can also be founder under stones. An average colony has 1,000 to 4,000 workers, but larger colonies contain up to 10,000 individuals.
Common names
C. vagus, like all ants in genusGenus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Camponotus, may be referred to by the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
"carpenter ant
Carpenter ant
Carpenter ants are large ants indigenous to many parts of the world. They prefer dead, damp wood in which to build nests. They do not eat it, however, unlike termites. Sometimes carpenter ants will hollow out sections of trees. The most likely species to be infesting a house in the United States...
" but it is known by other names across its range. In the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, for example, this species is known in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
as zwarte reuzenmier, i.e. "black giant ant."
Bee paralysis virus
In 2008, the Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) was reported for the first time in this species and another species of ant, Formica rufaFormica rufa
Formica rufa, also known as the southern wood ant or horse ant, is a boreal member of the Formica rufa group of ants, commonly found throughout much of Europe in both coniferous and broad-leaf broken woodland and parkland. Workers can measure 8–10 mm in length...
. CPPV affects bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s, ants, and mite
Mite
Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...
s.
Taxonomic History
vagus. Formica vaga Scopoli, 1763: 312 (w.) AUSTRIA. Latreille, 1802c: 96 (w.q.m.). Hauschteck, 1961: 221 (k.). Combination in Camponotus: Roger, 1863b: 1; in C. (Camponotus): Forel, 1914a: 266. [Misspelled as vagans: Emery, 1891b: 20.] Subspecies of herculeanus: Emery, 1896d: 372; Emery, 1908a: 185; Bondroit, 1910: 488. Revived status as species: Ruzsky, 1905b: 241; Forel, 1915d: 68; Emery, 1916b: 225; Emery, 1920b: 255; Finzi, 1924a: 14; Karavaiev, 1927c: 275; Finzi, 1930d: 317; Santschi, 1931a: 11; Stitz, 1939: 246. See also: Yasumatsu & Brown, 1951: 31; Arnol'di & Dlussky, 1978: 551; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 214. Senior synonym of pubescens: Olivier, 1792: 492; Emery, 1891b: 20; Forel, 1892i: 306; of fuscoptera: Latreille, 1802c: 96; of kodorica: Radchenko, 1997a: 558. Current subspecies: nominal plus ifranensis.
As just noted, Camponotus vagus ifranensis (Cagniant, 1987) is recognized as a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
. Previously identified subspecies Camponotus vagus kodoricus (Forel, 1913) and Camponotus vagus vagus (Scopoli, 1763) are no longer recognized.
External links
- Ant Hill Wood features some macrophotography of a captive C. vagus colony in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.