Black-headed Sugar Ant - Camponotus nigriceps
Subfamily Formicinae
This page contains pictures and information about Sugar Ants that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Solder, length 15mm
- Worker ant, length 10mm
- Camponotus species commonly called sugar ants. Sugar ants are stingless, although unable to sting, do possess strong mandibles which can bite. In self-defense these ants are also able to spray acid from their abdomens to deter predators.
- For this species, we saw they have at least two body size; the worker ants are 10mm length and the solder ants are 15mm length. The solder ants also have wider head with more powerful jaws.
Their Nest
- The Sugar Ants build their nest under ground in soil, sometimes covered with rock.
- From those inside-nest pictures we noticed one more worker class which is destined from the foraging worker. They are the ants with larger abdomen and carrying pupa. We think they are the workers work inside the nest. The foraging workers have smaller abdomen and store less food in their body. This minimizes the loss to the ants society in case the foraging ants cannot come back home due to any reason.
- Reference and Link:
- 1. Insects of Australia and New Zealand - R. J. Tillyard, Angus & Robertson, Ltd, Sydney, 1926, p290.
- 2. Australian Camponotus - myrmecos.net, 2005.
- 3.Camponotus nigriceps - Australian Insect Common Names, CSIRO, 2005.
