Brown-black horse ant
| Brown-black horse ant | ||||||||||||
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A brown and black horse ant ( Camponotus ligniperda ) |
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| Camponotus ligniperda | ||||||||||||
| ( Latreille , 1802) |
The brown-black horse ant ( Camponotus ligniperda , also: Camponotus ligniperdus ) is a species of ant from the genus of the horse ants ( Camponotus ). It is one of the largest ant species found in Central Europe .
features
The entire body is shiny, the head and most of the abdomen ( gaster ) are colored black. The legs , the mesosoma and the stalk limb ( petiolus ), however, are red-brown in color. The length of the workers varies greatly and is 6 to 14 millimeters. The queens are 16 to 18 millimeters long, the males only 8 to 12 millimeters long.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area extends across Europe . This species is widespread in Central Europe and quite common in some areas. The brown- black horse ant chooses significantly warmer and drier locations than the black horse ant ( Camponotus herculeanus ). It mainly inhabits sunny deciduous and mixed forests or bushy dry grasslands . It can also be found on field borders.
Way of life
After the young sex animals overwinter twice in the nest, they swarm on warm afternoons between the beginning of May and the end of June. The colony is established claustrally by a single queen, but can also be done in pleometrosis . The states are almost always monogynous , and oligogyny should also be possible.
nutrition
In addition to feeding on the honeydew of the aphids , this species also consumes sweet plant juices directly. It also feeds on a zoophagus and uses food sources up to 40 meters away from the nest.
Nest building
The nests are created in dead wood , whereby softwood is generally preferred. The trees are gnawed and colonized up to three meters high. A large underground part usually also belongs to the nest. Pure earth nests are also possible. In contrast to other ross ants, C. ligniperda usually does not colonize living wood.
Systematics
The species is also known as Camponotus ligniperdus . According to Seifert, the species name C. ligniperda is correct and there is no need to use a masculine ending, as it is a noun form in apposition. This assessment is questioned, for example Bolton used the name C. ligniperdus in 1995 . A final scientific evaluation is still pending.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Heiko Bellmann : bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-09690-4 .
- ↑ a b c d Bernhard Seifert : The ants of Central and Northern Europe . lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Görlitz / Tauer 2007, ISBN 978-3-936412-03-1 .
Web links
- Article about Camponotus ligniperdus in the AmeisenWiki