24 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Could be a different species.

[DaveJay]

Could be a different species.

Could be a closely related species. There are pictures in the previous post now btw, I wrote the post before remembering on this forum I have to upload the pictures before writing a post.

[CoolColJ]

Still look like  Camponotus Aeneopilosus to me.

The only other golden tail Camponotus are suffusus variants.

 

Nanitics can be quite a lot smaller than the regular workers

[DaveJay]

Still look like  Camponotus Aeneopilosus to me.

The only other golden tail Camponotus are suffusus variants.

 

Nanitics can be quite a lot smaller than the regular workers

Yes, I see now that it is just the size that's different, I don't even have full minor workers to compare, just nanitics so I'll wait and see how big the workers are.

 

Both times I have seen the Camponotus species it has been in areas that flood at times, not every year perhaps but it does happen, I haven't seen them in areas further away from the river or backwater so far. Further into the Mallee I saw these ants, the Muscle Man Ant,  Podomyrma adelaidae. There were two running around on a tree, in and out of the bark. Once again the photos are poor, I'm having trouble getting the camera to focus on small objects that run around frantically! It's further complicated because with this species when they do stop, their head and thorax are still moving from side to side!

I might have to put an ant into a large tub with sand, wood and rocks to simulate the natural environment and experiment with different settings and techniques.

I knew I had seen videos and photos of them because I remembered the cream colour markings on the gaster. I hope I can find a Queen of this species, they seem very interesting.

 

Here's Mark Newtons' video from his YouTube channel "Wild South Australia", check out his website by the same name. Keep in mind that it was the middle and the end of winter when I was in the Riverland, there weren't many ants active at all, can't wait for summer!

Edited by DaveJay, September 3 2018 - 9:02 PM.

[DaveJay]

Here's some video of Camponotus aeneopilosus at the Katarapko section of the Murray River National Park. I decided not to edit it even though I was just shooting blind without being able to see the screen on the camera.