Hairy wood ant
| Hairy wood ant | ||||||||||||
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Hairy wood ant ( Camponotus vagus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Camponotus vagus | ||||||||||||
| ( Scopoli , 1763) |
The hairy wood ant ( Camponotus vagus ) belongs to the genus of the ross ants ( Camponotus ), in the subfamily of the scale ants (Formicinae). Their distribution area extends from southern Scandinavia to northwestern Africa and from Portugal to the Altai.
features
The queens are 14-16 mm, the polymorphic workers, however, 6-12 mm tall. The color is black throughout and the ants have thick hairs.
Occurrence
The species is very xerothermic and prefers clearings in light, warm woody stands. In Central Europe, nests are mostly found in sand dune and pine forests, where they are built in dry, rotten tree trunks, under dead wood or tree roots. However, colonies can also be found under stones.
Way of life
The colonies are mostly monogynous and consist of 1000–4000 workers, in rare cases up to 10,000 individuals. The mating flights take place between April and July. They prefer a relative humidity of 70% and a temperature of more than 22 ° C. The species is very strong at fighting and is superior to the brown and black horse ant ( Camponotus ligniperda ). They hibernate from October to March; this is probably controlled by a purely endogenous rhythm. The sex animals hibernate once.
nutrition
Compared to the brown-black horse ant ( Camponotus ligniperda ) and the black horse ant ( Camponotus herculeanus ), this ant species is more zoophagous , but also feeds on the honeydew of aphids and also accepts honey water in terrariums.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Norwegian Journal of Entomology: Issue 55; Vol. 1; 2008; Pages 105-108 (PDF; 429 kB)
- ↑ a b Myrmecologische News: No. 7;. 2005; Pages 43-45 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 154 kB)
- ↑ a b c Bernhard Seifert : Ants - observe, determine . Naturbuch Verlag, 1996, page 284, ISBN 978-3-89440-170-2
Web links
- Camponotus vagus in Fauna Europaea
- Article in the AmeisenWiki
- Photo of two workers with prey
