The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

At my sleepaway camp in the poconos of Pennsylvania (AKA a somewhat remote forest in the mountains), as well as less natural settings such as my suburban backyard on Long Island, I have noticed a pattern. In both locations, by far the most common Camponotus species is Camponotus pennsylvanicus. What makes this particular any so successful? What edge does it have over other similar ants such as C. Chromaiodes and C. noveboracensis? All three species are similarly sized carpenter ants, with the same body shape and habitat. So why is C. pennsylvanicus the one I run into 95% of the time? Are they stronger? Faster? Do their colonies grow faster? WHAT'S THEIR SECRET?!?!??

Can someone please answer this? Does anybody even know the answer?

I believe they are just a more hardy than other species. It probably has to do with their more generalized dietary interests, along with their ability to thrive in a more diverse temperature range than other Camponotus sp. Albeit a small temperature range, but still larger than the others.
I'm not sure if they have a "secret" per say, but the above reasons just make sense to me.

Camponotus pennsylvanicus and Camponotus novaeboracensis (for example) occupy different ecological niches. C. novaeboracensis prefers higher elevations, while Camponotus pennsylvaniculs prefers lowlands.

In rural Madison, Maine (223 ft above sea level), the majorative Camoponotus species was C. novaeboracensis.

Lovell (463 ft), was much the same.

In Portland, Maine (62 ft above sea level), Camponotus novaeboracensis is much less common, although I also live in a semi-urban environment.

Batspiderfish wrote:Camponotus pennsylvanicus and Camponotus novaeboracensis (for example) occupy different ecological niches. C. novaeboracensis prefers higher elevations, while Camponotus pennsylvaniculs prefers lowlands.

At my sleepaway camp in the poconos, we were around 1200 feet above sea level, but C. pennsylvanicus was by far the most common Camponotus species. This is true for where I live as well, which is around 150 feet above sea level.

Interesting! There may be more to it than just elevation, but there are certainly going to be areas where one species outnumbers another.

This species is common?? I found one yesterday and thought that I was lucky, maybe I was just not seeing them anymore...

AnthonyP163 wrote:This species is common?? I found one yesterday and thought that I was lucky, maybe I was just not seeing them anymore...

For a second, I thought the same thing, I couldn't find any C. pennsylvanicus queens in my area and thought maybe they were rarer or that I missed the breeding time.... but then I went into town the next day and found 6 queens right away! Sometimes you just gotta try different places around your area, if you haven't already.

AntMomo wrote:

AnthonyP163 wrote:This species is common?? I found one yesterday and thought that I was lucky, maybe I was just not seeing them anymore...

For a second, I thought the same thing, I couldn't find any C. pennsylvanicus queens in my area and thought maybe they were rarer or that I missed the breeding time.... but then I went into town the next day and found 6 queens right away! Sometimes you just gotta try different places around your area, if you haven't already.

I agree. In my town by my house camponotus penn. And noveboracensis had a mass flight back in may. Just last week I caught some camponotus Penn. that were dealated looking for founding spots. I found them almost 2 miles away from my house, must have been a small localized flight.

I've only found one C. pennsylvanicus queen before, but I see the workers EVERYWHERE. The queen I found was inside a log of firewood I broke open to look for ants. She's very lucky I didn't crush her. Now, she has four workers.