{"id":580,"date":"2024-08-08T12:02:48","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T16:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/?p=580"},"modified":"2026-05-18T13:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:09:07","slug":"drunken-carpenter-ants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/2024\/08\/08\/drunken-carpenter-ants\/","title":{"rendered":"Drunken Camponotus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a18839bea60c&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a18839bea60c\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--pointerdown=\"actions.preloadImage\" data-wp-on--pointerenter=\"actions.preloadImageWithDelay\" data-wp-on--pointerleave=\"actions.cancelPreload\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1187.jpg\" alt=\"Pheidole megacephala pinning down a carpenter ant.\" class=\"wp-image-581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1187.jpg 800w, https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1187-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1187-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-label=\"state.thisImage.triggerButtonAriaLabel\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.thisImage.buttonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.thisImage.buttonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pheidole megacephala pinning down a carpenter ant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can&#8217;t figure out these Carpenter Ants (<em>Camponotus floridanus<\/em>?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are much larger than the <em>Pheidole megacephala<\/em> minors and majors, and could probably avoid them altogether or run right through their foraging lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in at least three instances that happened over the span of three days, the giants tried to fight and ended up prey instead. In all three cases, I did not directly witness how the <em>Pheidole megacephala<\/em> initially managed to snag such huge ants, but in one case the Carpenter ant was already injured and was ultimately mobbed by the <em>Pheidole<\/em> (not sure whether it had been captured earlier but managed to escape temporarily).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In  the first instance I did not see the initial encounter, but found a beheaded corpse being swarmed by the <em>P. megacephala<\/em>. In the second case, I noticed that a Carpenter ant near a <em>P. megacephala<\/em> foraging line was limping, and when I took a macro of it, it showed that the ant had lost a leg and part of one antennae. I do not know the  circumstances of how it lost the joints, but individual <em>P. megacephala<\/em> workers were rushing up to it and trying to bite it. It tried to fight back until it was ultimately swamped as more and more <em>P. megacephala<\/em> piled on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<br><br>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a18839bead7e&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a18839bead7e\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--pointerdown=\"actions.preloadImage\" data-wp-on--pointerenter=\"actions.preloadImageWithDelay\" data-wp-on--pointerleave=\"actions.cancelPreload\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1173.jpg\" alt=\"Carpenter Ant with missing leg joints and part of an antennae.\" class=\"wp-image-582\" srcset=\"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1173.jpg 800w, https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1173-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/DSC_1173-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-label=\"state.thisImage.triggerButtonAriaLabel\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.thisImage.buttonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.thisImage.buttonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Carpenter Ant with missing leg joints and part of an antennae<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the third case, a Carpenter ant seemed to be attracted to the honey bait that I had placed for the smaller ants, and was rushing back and forth around it. I did not pay attention to it, but I later found that it had been captured and was being killed as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I should point out I have never seen one killed before this in months of observing the <em>P. megacephala<\/em>, so not sure what changed. Perhaps the weather had something to do with it, or more likely, it was the fact that the <em>P. megacephala<\/em> cluster has been expanding and is now infringing on areas with these giant ants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I can&#8217;t figure out these Carpenter Ants (Camponotus floridanus?). They are much larger than the Pheidole megacephala minors and majors, and could probably avoid them altogether or run right through their foraging lines. But in at least three instances that happened over the span of three days, the giants tried to fight and ended up&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_siteseo_robots_primary_cat":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":588,"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions\/588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keyapa.com\/pheidole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}