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The banded sugar ant (''Camponotus consobrinus''), also known as the sugar ant, is a species of ant endemic to Australia. A member of the genus ''Camponotus'' in the subfamily Formicinae, it was described by German entomologist Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson in 1842. Its common name refers to the ant's liking for sugar and sweet food, as well as the distinctive orange-brown band that wraps around its gaster. The ant is polymorphic and relatively large, with two different castes of workers: major workers (also known as soldiers), and minor workers. These two group of workers measure around in length, while the queen ants are even larger. Mainly nocturnal, banded sugar ants prefer a mesic habitat, and are commonly found in forests and woodlands. They also occur in urban areas, where they are considered a household pest. The ant's diet includes sweet secretions that are retrieved from aphids and other insects that it tends. This species is a competitor of the meat ant (''Iridomyrmex purpureus''), and food robbery and nest-plugging is known to occur between these two ants. Workers prey on insects, killing them with a spray of formic acid. Banded sugar ants are preyed upon by other ants, echidnas, and birds. The eggs of this species were consumed by Indigenous Australians. ==Taxonomy== The banded sugar ant was first described by German entomologist Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson, who named it ''Formica consobrina'' in 1842. The holotype specimen is a queen collected from Tasmania, which is now housed in the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. ''Formica consobrina'' was later moved to the genus ''Camponotus'' as ''Camponotus consobrinus'', by entomologist Julius Roger in 1863. In 1933, American entomologist William Morton Wheeler described some subspecies and variants of the banded sugar ant. These subspecies were ''C. consobrinus lividipes'' and ''C. consobrinus nigriceps'', while the variants were ''C. consobrinus var. obniger'' and ''C. consobrinus var. perthianus''. Some of these classifications were short lived; ''C. consobrinus nigriceps'' was later revived as a full species in 1934 as ''C. nigriceps'', while ''C. consobrinus lividipes'' was synonymised with ''C. consobrinus''. ''C. consobrinus lividipes'' was treated as a subspecies for ''C. nigriceps'' in 1985, now known as ''C. nigriceps lividipes''. In 1996 ''C. consobrinus perthianus'' was synonymised with ''C. nigriceps'', and ''C. consobrinus var. obniger'' was synonymised with ''C. consobrinus''.〔 The specific name is derived from the Latin word ''consobrina'', meaning "cousin". This is in reference to its similar appearance with the species ''C. herculeanus''.〔 The ant is a member of the ''Camponotus nigriceps'' species group, which also includes ''C. clarior'', ''C. dryandrae'', ''C. eastwoodi'', ''C. loweryi'', ''C. longideclivis'', ''C. nigriceps'', ''C. pallidiceps'' and ''C. prostans''.〔 The species is commonly known as the banded sugar ant or sugar ant due to its attraction to sweet food and the orange-brown band that is present on its gaster. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Banded sugar ant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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