Black-headed Sugar Ant - Camponotus nigriceps
Subfamily Formicinae
This page contains pictures and information about Black-headed Sugar Ants that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body 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.
- Worker ant, body length 10mm
- Unlike some other ant species, sugar ants have a smooth body. Their body lack spines or teeth on the surface.
- 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.
- Solder body length 15mm
Their Nest
- The Sugar Ants build their nest on 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:
- 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.
