More than 2200 species of the wild flora and fauna photographed in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico and the surrounding area.
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Ants of Zihuatanejo
FAMILY FORMICIDAE
Black Compact Carpenter Ant
Camponotus novogranadensis
-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)
-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)
-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)
-Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies (Order Hymenoptera)
-Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees (Suborder Apocrita)
-Ants, Bees, and Stinging Wasps (Infraorder Aculeata)
-Formicine Ants (Subfamily Formicinae)
-Camponotin Ants (Tribe Camponotini)
-Carpenter Ants (Genus Camponotus)
-Black Compact Carpenter Ant (Camponotus novogranadensis)
Camponotus novogranadensis is a medium-sized carpenter ant species in the family Formicidae. It occurs in the Neotropics, from southern Mexico through Central America. As its common name suggests, this species is typically dark brown to black and has a relatively compact, robust build compared to some other carpenter ants. Like other carpenter ants, Camponotus novogranadensis does not eat wood but nests in it, excavating galleries in dead branches, rotting logs, wooden structures, or sometimes hollow plant stems. Colonies may also nest in soil beneath wood or inside structural timber if conditions are suitable. They feed primarily on sugary substances such as nectar and honeydew from sap-feeding insects, as well as small arthropods and other protein sources.
Diet
Omnivorous, feeding on honeydew from aphids, scale insects, and treehoppers, as well as floral nectar, extrafloral nectar, plant sap, fruits, fungi, dead insects, and other arthropods.
Workers also hunt or scavenge insects to provide protein for developing larvae.
Frequently forages in both the forest canopy and on the ground.
Range
Native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and much of northern and central South America, extending south to Brazil and Peru.
In Mexico, it occurs along both the Pacific and Gulf slopes, including Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.
Most common in tropical and subtropical lowland forests.
Habitat
Inhabits tropical dry forests, tropical rainforests, mangroves, secondary forests, woodland edges, plantations, orchards, gardens, and urban green spaces.
Nests in dead branches, hollow twigs, rotting logs, beneath bark, tree cavities, and occasionally in wooden structures.
Workers forage both on vegetation and across the forest floor, often tending honeydew-producing insects.
Size
Worker length: 4–9 mm (0.16–0.35 in)
Major worker: Up to 11 mm (0.43 in)
Queen length: 12–16 mm (0.47–0.63 in)
Colonies typically contain several hundred to several thousand workers.