Camponotus hispidus Emery 1906

Wild, Alexander L., 2007, A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 1622, pp. 1-55 : 48

Camponotus hispidus Emery 1906 . NEW STATUS.

Camponotus punctulatus var. hispida Emery 1906: 190 . [syntype w examined, MCSN; Pilar, Encarnación, Paraguay (Silvestri)].

Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) punctulatus var. hispida Emery. Emery 1925: 78 . Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) punctulatus var. hispidus Emery. Kempf 1972: 70 .

Several species in the Camponotus punctulatus complex occur in Paraguay and are among the more common groundnesting ants in open habitats. Camponotus hispidus can be distinguished from the locally sympatric C. punctulatus Mayr (syntype w examined, NHMW) by the more extensive pilosity on the head of the major . Camponotus punctulatus majors normally lack standing setae on the sides of the head and between the eye and the mandibular insertion, while C. hispidus majors have numerous subdecumbent to suberect setae on the sides of the head and> 10 between the eye and the mandibular insertion. As the pilosity of C. hispidus is more extensive than that of C. punctulatus , the integument of C. hispidus appears more densely and deeply punctate. Camponotus hispidus is piceous to black in color, while C. punctulatus in Paraguay is ordinarily bicolored with a reddish brown head and mesosoma a dark brown gaster. Since these two species are sympatric and distinct in Paraguay, there is no justification for retaining C. hispidus as a subspecies.