Alice Springs Fauna •

Alice Springs Ants (Formicidae)Camponotus novaehollandiae group

— see Camponotus aurocinctus | Camponotus consobrinus (Banded Sugar Ant) | Camponotus inflatus (Honey Ant)

Among the Camponotus spp is Camponotus novaehollandiae, once described as a species, but now include a number of possible species, including those that are yet to be described.

In Barry Bolton’s New General Catalogue, as updated in 2002 (but not formally published), the species Camponotus novaehollandiae is placed in the subgenus Tanaemyrmex.

Pictured here is a currently undescribed species from the Camponotus novaehollandiae group observed in Alice Springs, Central Australia.

Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT

The Camponotus are among the most abundant and widespread ant genera in the world (and possibly the largest ant genus of all), with over 100 described Camponotus species in Australia. They are found across a variety of terrestrial habitats, that include the commonly named carpenter ants, honey ants and weaver ants.

Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT

Camponotus is described as a hyperdiverse genus, that is currently rife with taxonomic issues, resulting in various subgenera, complexes and informal groupings, some that have been defined in taxonomic publications, with others being informally recognised. Even describing Camponotus diversity within a region is faced with difficulty, with much work still to be done on Camponotus.

Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT
Camponotus novaehollandiae Group, Alice Springs NT

  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Hexapoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Hymenoptera
  • Superfamily: Verspoidea
  • Family: Formicidae
  • Subfamily: Formicinae
  • Tribe: Camponotini
  • Genus: Camponotus
  • Species: Camponotus novaehollandiae

Footnote & References

  1. Many thanks to Alan Andersen, Maryanne McKaige, Kirsti Abbott for help with ID, members of Facebook group, NT Field Naturalists’ Club Inc, https://www.facebook.com/groups/ntfieldnaturalistsclub
  2. List of Australian Camponotus Species, AntWiki, https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_Camponotus_Species
  3. Camponotus species groups, AntWiki, https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Camponotus_species_groups
  4. Camponotus, AntWiki, https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Camponotus
  5. Oberprieler, Stefanie & Andersen, Alan & Moritz, Craig. (2018). Ants in Australia’s Monsoonal Tropics: CO1 Barcoding Reveals Extensive Unrecognised Diversity. Diversity. 10. 36. 10.3390/d10020036. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Species-of-the-Camponotus-novaehollandiae-group-considered-in-this-study-A-Cam_fig5_325149175
  6. Camponotus novaehollandiae Mayr, 1870, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Camponotus novaehollandiae
  7. Australian Camponotus, myrmecos.net, https://myrmecos.net/formicinae/australiancamponotus.html

Alice Springs Ants (Formicidae)Camponotus novaehollandiae group

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