Ant ID

gman

gman

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Sorry for the bad photo, heavily cropped from phone. Does anyone know what type of ant this is? Roughly 2cm and I'm sure there's hints of red. Med region.

1000033752.jpg
 
Looks like a banded sugar ant.
 
Norkie said:
Looks like a banded sugar ant.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it does look like it. The only thing I'm wondering is that they apparently don't bite or sting, but some b****r has bit me. There's lots of tiny ones about, with some of these big ones amongst them.
 
gman said:
some b****r has bit me.
Click to expand...


Probably a Pink Panther Ant now...

"Deadant, Deadant, Deadant deadant deadant deadant deadaaaant..."
 
Sorry to ressurect this thread - but I love ants.

Crazy hard to try and figure out the exact species, as the sheer number is crazy. I presume you were saying Mediterranean region?

I don't think it's a banded sugar ant. The gaster suggests otherwise based on the picture.

I think going based off of
  • A black head
  • A reddish-brown thorax (the middle section of the body)
  • A black gaster (the rear section of the body
And being based in the Mediterranean region, I think, will be Camponotus lateralis. Notably, a worker. It's a carpenter ant. They can, and will bite, but not overtly common to bite. No stinging.
With you mentioning that there are some smaller, and bigger ones, it seems more likely. You tend to have a various polymorphism within carpenter ants. Such as;
  • Workers (Minors) - What you've shown in your picture
  • Majors (Soldiers) - Physically larger, more robustly built.
  • Supermajors (Large Majors/Soldiers) - Even bigger, and absolute units. These tend to be very large, the size of the queen even, alongside having exceptionally developed heads, and mandibles.
Not the exact same colouring (As Ant colouring can change between nests, even if the exact same species), but this picture shows some of the different types.
You have;

  • Worker (Far left)
  • Queen (largest)
  • Very far right (Super major)
  • Slightly to the left of the super major, a standard major.
1748350682567.jpeg
 
Last edited:
It is not this ant
1748352420682.png
 
Royal said:
Sorry to ressurect this thread - but I love ants.

Crazy hard to try and figure out the exact species, as the sheer number is crazy. I presume you were saying Mediterranean region?

I don't think it's a banded sugar ant. The gaster suggests otherwise based on the picture.

I think going based off of
  • A black head
  • A reddish-brown thorax (the middle section of the body)
  • A black gaster (the rear section of the body
And being based in the Mediterranean region, I think, will be Camponotus lateralis. Notably, a worker. It's a carpenter ant. They can, and will bite, but not overtly common to bite. No stinging.
With you mentioning that there are some smaller, and bigger ones, it seems more likely. You tend to have a various polymorphism within carpenter ants. Such as;
  • Workers (Minors) - What you've shown in your picture
  • Majors (Soldiers) - Physically larger, more robustly built.
  • Supermajors (Large Majors/Soldiers) - Even bigger, and absolute units. These tend to be very large, the size of the queen even, alongside having exceptionally developed heads, and mandibles.
Not the exact same colouring (As Ant colouring can change between nests, even if the exact same species), but this picture shows some of the different types.
You have;

  • Worker (Far left)
  • Queen (largest)
  • Very far right (Super major)
  • Slightly to the left of the super major, a standard major.
View attachment 454300
Click to expand...


Thanks for the detailed reply. The specific area was Paphos in Cyprus. A barrier of washing up liquid kept them at bay from getting in through a tiny hold in the door frame, and of course preventing any crumbs and liquids being left on the floor!

Amazing creatures.
 
gman said:
Thanks for the detailed reply. The specific area was Paphos in Cyprus. A barrier of washing up liquid kept them at bay from getting in through a tiny hold in the door frame, and of course preventing any crumbs and liquids being left on the floor!

Amazing creatures.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that'd be conclusive with the C. lateralis. Love ants - Fascinating creatures.
 
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