Carpenter ants (Camponotus lateralis)

Camponotus lateralis · Camponotus
Carpenter ants (Camponotus lateralis). Recorded flying in April. Reddish-brown head, reddish-brown mesosoma, black gaster. Sharp red-to-black bicolor contrast on a notably smaller, slenderer body than most Camponotus.

When do carpenter ants fly?

Recorded flying in April.

Flight calendar

Jan
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Queen appearance

Reddish-brown head, reddish-brown mesosoma, black gaster. Sharp red-to-black bicolor contrast on a notably smaller, slenderer body than most Camponotus.
fast, agile, quick darting movement; more diurnal than most congeners
Founding care
Fully claustral: seal her in a test tube setup, somewhere dark and undisturbed. She raises the first brood on her own wing muscles and needs no food or opening until the first workers appear.
Needs a winter diapause: a cool, dark rest period each year.
Diet: Insects, meat, sugar water, honey etc.
Intermediate · Queen ~8.5-10 mm
Read more on AntWiki →
Care data from antkeeping.info (CC BY 4.0).

Habitat

Dead wood · also under bark · typical for this genus
Check logs, stumps and dead branches for landed queens. Look over dead trunks for queens exploring the bark.

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