Camponotus sexguttatus

Nomenclature

Species: Camponotus sexguttatus (Fabricius, 1793)

Usage: valid

General description

Camponotus sexguttatus is a midsized, polymorphic species with a shiny reddish brown head, a shiny dark brown gaster marked with yellowish white spots, and a distinctly impressed metanotal suture. The species is a Neotropical native and ranges from Argentina to Nicaragua and presumably parts of the Caribbean (Kempf, 1972). Although it is considered introduced in Florida and at least some Caribbean islands (Deyrup, 1998;2003), C. sexguttatus is not considered a pest (Deyrup et al., 2000).

Biology

What is currently referred to as C. sexguttatus, like many of its widespread congeners, may well prove to be a complex of cryptic species. In his investigation of C. sexguttatus and its relatives in Paraguay, Wild (2007)concluded that while C. sexguttatus in the broad sense may contain a number of cryptic species over its entire range, it is unlikely that the current subspecies reflect actual population boundaries. Camponotus sexguttatus was originally described from the Antilles, but the designation of Bahaman populations as introduced (Deyrup, 1998) raises into question which, if any, of the Caribbean populations are native to the islands. Although purportedly collected in Hawaii where it was nesting in a house (Smith, 1879), it has not currently believed to be established on any of the islands (Krushelnycky et al., 2005). The species was intentionally introduced to Biosphere 2 (Arizona, USA), but was not found in any surveys subsequent to the original introduction (Wetterer et al., 1999).

The earliest known specimens from Florida date to 1993 (Deyrup et al., 2000), but the species is considered rare and currently confined to Dade County (Deyrup, 2003). In addition to nesting in saw grass stems at the edges of marshy areas, Florida colonies have also been discovered inside the thorns of non-native ant-acacias (Wetterer & Wetterer, 2003) and workers are known from the vegetation of the invasive tree Melaleuca quinquenervia (Costello et al., 2003).

In Paraguay, C. sexguttatus is reported as common, particularly in disturbed or edge habitats (Wild, 2007), and was frequently sampled from vegetation in the Ecuadorian Amazon (Ryder Wilkie et al., 2010). In Costa Rica, Jack Longino (2012)reported very few collections of C. sexguttatus, all from very weedy open areas.

External links

Antweb | Antwiki | EOL | BOLD

Risk statement

Not considered a significant pest species.

Diagnostic description

Diagnosis of worker among Antkey species

Worker caste polymorphic. Antenna 12-segmented. Antennal club indistinct. Antennal scape length less than 1.5x head length. Eyes medium to large (greater than 6 facets); lacking distinct ocelli. Antennal sockets and posterior clypeal margin separated by a distance equal to or greater than the minimum width of antennal scape. Head length longer than head width. Metanotal groove distinctly impressed. Propodeum and petiolar node both lacking a pair of short teeth. Propodeum not angulate and lacking a distinct dorsal and posterior face; also lacking posteriorly projecting protrusion. Metapleuron lacking a distinct gland orifice. Waist 1-segmented. Petiole upright and not appearing flattened. Gaster armed with acidopore. Distinct constriction not visible between abdominal segments 3+4. Hairs not long thick and produced in pairs. Gaster concolorous or often with yellowish white spots on lateral portions of second tergite, but always lacking dark transverse bands running near posterior margins of tergites that contrast with the rest of gaster and body. 

Camponotus sexguttatus is diagnosed from other members of the genus introduced or commonly intercepted in the United States by the following characters: (1) metanotal groove distinctly impressed (versus all others); (2) gaster concolorous or often with yellowish white spots on lateral portions of second tergite (versus variegated in C. variegatus); and (3) propodeum not angulate and lacking a distinct dorsal and posterior face (versus C. rectangularis).Camponotus sexguttatus is diagnosed from other members of the genus introduced or commonly intercepted in the United States by the following characters: (1) metanotal groove distinctly impressed (versus all others); (2) gaster concolorous or often with yellowish white spots on lateral portions of second tergite (versus variegated in C. variegatus); and (3) propodeum not angulate and lacking a distinct dorsal and posterior face (versus C. rectangularis).

Distribution

Native range. Neotropics from Argentina to Nicaragua and presumably parts of the Caribbean.

Introduced range. Florida (Dade Co.); Bahamas (New Providence).

USA POE Intercept records. Brazil; Trinidad-Tobago.

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