Sunday, April 09, 2006

Camponotus sericeus

Camponotus sericeus
Classification
Tribe: Camponotini
Subfamily: Formicinae
Family: Formicidae
Order: Hymenoptera
Common name: Common Golden Ant
Commonly called as Golden ant due to their golden pubescence on the gaster. Interestingly the density of hairs varies in this species between nests, thus some appear extremely golden, while some hardly do. These ants are ground dwelling ants and construct monodomous nests. These ants are present in a wide range of habitats. They are found in parks and gardens in the city, agricultural fields and along mud paths in villages, scrub jungles, dry deciduous and evergreen forests. Nests are constructed in barren floodplains and also on both flat and slopy surfaces. Nest entrances differ according to the habitat the ant inhabits. In scrub jungles nest entrances are inconspicuous tiny circular nest entrances. In slopy areas along Western ghats, nest entrance are chimney-like, to prevent water from gushing into the nest. These ants are generalists regarding feeding habits. They never make long foraging trails, but often are seen moving in groups of 4-5 by a behaviour called tandem running.

Collected:
All around Bangalore, dry river beds in Hessarghatta and Sharavathi in Shimoga (2005-2006).

posted by Ajay Narendra @ 11:37 AM   7 comments

7 Comments:

At 10:29 AM, Blogger Matschi said...

Hi,

nice thread and picture :)
Do you have any informations about how big the workers can get? Means: the queen ist around 11-13mm big, but the workers?

thanks for that and lots of greets
Matschi

 
At 8:12 PM, Blogger Ajay Narendra said...

Hi Matschi,

Thanks for your comments.
Majors: 8-10 mm
Medians: 5-7 mm
Minors: 3-4 mm

Hope this helps!
Aj

 
At 1:23 AM, Blogger Matschi said...

Hello Aj,

wow, thanks a lot. This helps very much :)

First Info about the size of this species-workers. I will post it in a german page about ants and a forum in germany, if this is ok for you?

lots of greets
Matschi

 
At 1:34 AM, Blogger Ajay Narendra said...

Sure Matschi,
Do go ahead and post it in the forums. As an academic I can request for credits wherever possible!
best,
Ajay

 
At 1:53 PM, Blogger Matschi said...

Thanks, i posted it and spoke to a antfriend, who was in Asia around a month ago.

and we asked us, because the minor with 3-4mm is small, if you pherhaps mean the pygmaes with this size?

and just another question: do you have experinces with the life-cycle from egg to imago? mean: from egg to the adult ant?

there are only a few informations about this nice species in internet (what i have found), so we are very interested in details :)

lots of greets and many thanks
Matschi

 
At 5:57 AM, Blogger Aniruddha H D said...

Hi, saw a lot many of these on the forest floor as well as near river beds too. I've got a picture of this Camponotus sp. tending to something that looks like "Eggs" on a rock surface in a river bed. I'd like you to verify it. Is it alright if i mail you that picture?
Thanks in advance, regards, Aniruddha Dhamorikar.

 
At 5:38 PM, Blogger Tonya said...

Hi, I've seen an ant that looks very similar to this around Canberra - do you happen to know what it might be?

tonya

 

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