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mtrein: Help in identifying this queen (23. Okt 2011 23:31)

Hello there

Today I went out to the countryside (my parents' house) and went to look for ants. I found a queen of an ant species I have no idea what is but I am happy as I wanted to try keeping these ants for some time.

Well, they live inside rotting wood. The queen is about the same size as my Camponotus ligniperdus queen, but it has a stockier body and the gaster is somewhat smaller than the Camponotus. The color is a darker red than clotted blood, almost brown in color. There are workers and majors, they are very aggressive and the major bites are terrible. The worker size is almost 10mm and the majors are about 13-15mm.

Here are the links to the pictures:

http://i56.tinypic.com/30ixe8i.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/2cy1vsk.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/2j5fktl.jpg

Oh, I also found a very young scorpion. :)

http://i53.tinypic.com/2w6tdv6.jpg

AntsNational: Re: Help in identifying this queen (24. Okt 2011 04:41)

Whereabouts did you find this queen? In Brazil?

It's definitely a Camponotus species, could you post pictures of the workers?

Cheers

mtrein: Re: Help in identifying this queen (24. Okt 2011 11:43)

Yes, I found them in Brazil (at the extreme south, where I live, near Porto Alegre - look it up on google maps and you will see more or less where it is).

I found some old pictures of some workers and soldiers which I captured while trying to capture a queen. The pictures are not very good, but they are the same species.

They are very aggressive.

http://i54.tinypic.com/27zln2u.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/2h5ma6g.jpg

mtrein: Re: Help in identifying this queen (24. Okt 2011 14:43)

Ok, I'm almost sure it is Camponotus punctulatus. Can any experts confirm my suspicion?

Anonymous: Re: Help in identifying this queen (24. Okt 2011 16:24)

Well, the genus Camponotus has a lot of different species, it's not easy to identificate them.
I'm no expert, but I think it probably isn't Camponotus punctulatus, on your fotos the queen and the workers look monochrome,
while C. punctulatus looks red and brown. Your queen looks very dark, almost black? Is it just on the foto?
It could also be Camponotus atriceps or rufipes, but it's futile to want to guess the species.
So someone who knows more could help you by identifying these ants, you had to post much better fotos.
Otherwise it doesn't matter too, just call it Camponotus spec. :D
Regards, AIS

mtrein: Re: Help in identifying this queen (24. Okt 2011 16:47)

The queen is not black, it is a dark red almost brown colour. The pictures were taken with an iPhone and as such are really not very good :)

I hope it is fertile and it lays eggs :)

mtrein: Re: Help in identifying this queen (25. Okt 2011 15:45)

A friend asked an expert Myrmecologist to have a look at the pictures and his verdict is: Camponotus rufipes.

mtrein: Re: Help in identifying this queen (25. Okt 2011 16:22)

The scorpion is probably Titius bahiensis.