sugar ants - Καμπόνωτος - Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) Family Formicidae. - Cyprus

Camponotus sp. - Queen

Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.), also known as sugar ants, are large (0.3 to 1.0 in or 0.76 to 2.54 cm) ants indigenous to many forested parts of the world.

They build nests inside wood consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles, preferably in dead, damp wood. They do not consume the wood, however, unlike termites. Sometimes, carpenter ants hollow out sections of trees. They also commonly infest wooden buildings and structures, and are a widespread nuisance and major cause of structural damage. One of the most familiar species associated with human habitation in the United States is the black carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus). The genus includes over 1,000 species

Carpenter ant species reside both outdoors and indoors in moist, decaying, or hollow wood, most commonly in forest environments. They cut "galleries" into the wood grain to provide passageways for movement from section to section of the nest. Certain parts of a house, such as around and under windows, roof eaves, decks and porches, are more likely to be infested by carpenter ants because these areas are most vulnerable to moisture.

Carpenter ants have been known to construct extensive underground tunneling systems. These systems often lead to and end at some food source – often aphid colonies, where the ants extract and feed on honeydew. These tunneling systems also often exist in trees. The colonies typically include a central "parent" colony surrounded and supplemented by smaller satellite colonies.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.Photos Geri 10/9/2015 by George Konstantinou

Ants - Pheidole sp. - Cyprus

Pheidole is a genus of ant that belongs to the ant subfamily Myrmicinae. The genus is widespread and ecologically dominant. It probably includes more than a thousand species . The genus first evolved in the Americas, eventually spreading across the globe.

Most species of Pheidole are dimorphic, which means that colonies contain two castes of workers: the "minor" workers, and the "major" workers, or "soldiers". The latter generally have enormous heads and mandibles in comparison to their usually fairly modest body size.

In addition, as in other ant species, a colony may contains one or several queens and also, in mature colonies, alates, virgin winged females and males

The distinctive major workers have earned the genus Pheidole the nickname of "big headed ants." The major workers of a Pheidolecolony, while they may look fierce, are often quite shy and are often the first to flee on any hint of danger. Interestingly, manyPheidole species are the prey of parasitoid phorid flies that lay their eggs on the major workers; the fly larvae grow mainly in the head capsules of the victims, eventually decapitating them, and probably would starve in the bodies of minor workers.

In most cases, the major workers are employed within the nest to break up large food items, or outside to carry large items, like seeds; many Pheidole species are ecologically important seed consumers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.Photos Geri 10/9/2015 by George Konstantinou

Cataglyphis, or desert ants - Cataglyphis noda Brullé, 1833 - Cyprus

Cataglyphis, or desert ants, is a genus of ant in the subfamily Formicinae. Its most famous species is C. bicolor, the Sahara Desert ant, which runs on hot sand to find insects that died of heat exhaustion, and can sustain body temperatures of up to 50°C
Species of this genus are generally morphologically and physiologically adapted to dry and hot habitats

In the Sahara, ants are living where there there are no bushes or clumps of grass, and where tracks are covered by wind-blown sand in seconds. The midday sun is so hot that even the permanent residents, sand lizards and insects and a few birds, have to take shelter. But this is when, for not much more than an hour, it's safe for Cataglyphis to come out of their underground nests and forage. According to Wehner, they can withstand higher temperatures than any other insects.They pour out on to the sand and search for insects that have died of heat stress. Each ant dashes about in zigzag patterns, but as soon as one is lucky enough to find a tiny insect corpse, it has to get it back to the nest fast before it itself dies of the heat. It does not retrace the zig-zagging path of its outward journey; even if a scent-trail made this possible, such a route would be time-wasting. Instead, it runs in a straight line directly back to its nest-hole.

On its outward journey, it zig-zags right and left. Every time it changes direction, it lifts its head and wheels around to take a bearing on the sun. In addition, it has to remember how far it went on each straight run. When it’s time to head for home, it has to sum all this data and come out with the precise direction needed. Some outward journeys take an ant a quarter of an hour, with sun-sightings every few seconds.

In an experiment, individual ants were fitted with an apparatus, which blocked direct sight of the sun while giving a false impression of where the sun was, using a mirror. When these ants headed for home, they dashed off to a point in the desert displaced by just the amount that the mirror had shifted the sun's position.

At least five different species of Cataglyphis occur in the Sahara desert, which may be considered the center of distribution for this genus. Some species reach into southern Russia, southern Spain, the European part of Turkey, the Aral-Caspian area near Tijanchan, Yugoslavia and Hungary.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.Photos and video Nicosia  by George Konstantinou