''Camponotus textor'', also known as Brazilian weaver ant, is a species of fairly common tree-dwelling ant native to South and Central America. It is believed to include a number of

cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, and previously were considered synonymous to the cavity-dwelling ant '' Camponotus senex'', now thought to be only distantly-related.

Ecology

''C. textor'' nests can be found across a number of tree species in Brazil, and they're dominant species wherever they're found. These ants will aggressively defend their nests whenever disturbed, while workers will produce a fairly loud hissing sound through tapping inside their nest with their abdomens. They undergo four larval

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

s during their development, and will pupate inside a cocoon. The last larval instar, mature larvae produce the silk used in spinning their nests, being held from behind by other workers. These hairy, plump larval have specialised hairs on their back armed with anchor-like projections at their tips, presumably for fixation onto nest walls. They are the only ''

Camponotus Carpenter ants (''Camponotus'' spp.) are a genus of large ants (workers ) indigenous to many parts of the world. True carpenter ants build nests inside wood, consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles or jaws, preferably in dead, ...

'' ants registered to have traces of

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s in their venom.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9692382 textor Insects described in 1899