Camponotus species

Observations:

  • Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), all visits
  • Wadi Abd el Melik (Gilf Kebir), November 2000
  • Karkur Ibrahim (Jebel Uweinat), October 2003
  • Wadi Wahesh (Jebel Uweinat), all visits
  • Wadi Handal (Jebel Uweinat), October 2007
  • Wadi Handal (Jebel Uweinat), November 2009

    These large black ants were noted at practically all areas with larger colonies of acacias, principally at Jebel Uweinat, but also more sporadically in the northern Gilf Kebir valleys. They are principally nocturnal hunters (though one may observe them in smaller numbers during the day), looking for insects which they attack individually or in groups, however there was no instance of any of them biting a human. For a long time they were identified as Cataglyphis fortis however Peter Slingsby (www.ants.org.za) identified them as a Camponotus species.

    Karkur Talh
    28th October, 2002
    (approx. 8pm)
         
    Karkur Talh(Jebel Uweinat), 19th October, 2006 (approx. 8pm)
       
    Karkur Talh(Jebel Uweinat), 22nd October, 2006 (approx. 8pm)
    A group of ants catching a small unidentified wasp.
         
    Wadi Handal
    23rd October, 2007
    (approx. 6pm)

         		  Wadi Handal, 11th November, 2009 (approx. 8pm)
       
    Southern Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), 14th March, 2010 (approx. 8pm),
    observed attacking a sand cockroach (Arenivaga sp.)