Japanese Carpenter Ant

Camponotus japonicus

The lifelong porter of an underground city

The Japanese carpenter ant is a large ant common across East Asia. Its workers form castes of different sizes with different jobs, coordinated via antennal contact and pheromones. The colony builds a chambered nest underground or in rotting wood, with the queen deep at its center, devoted for life to egg-laying.

Key figures

Length

Workers 7–13 mm (with minor and major castes); queens can reach about 17 mm

Load

Can carry food or nest material weighing dozens of times its own body weight

Lifespan

Queens can live for more than a decade; workers usually live only a few months to two years

Habitat

Nests in soil, under rocks, or inside rotting wood, forming an underground nest divided into chambers

Diet

Omnivorous — preys on small insects, feeds on plant sap, and “farms” aphids for honeydew

Cooperation

Coordinates labor through antennal tapping and pheromone signals; collective action is far more efficient than any single ant acting alone

Life cycle

Egg → Larva → Pupa (usually in a cocoon) → Adult (worker/queen/male)

Ecological role

As an omnivorous forager and predator, the carpenter ant contributes to turning over soil and cycling nutrients, while maintaining a mutualistic relationship with aphids by feeding on their honeydew; it is also a food source for many birds.

Did you know

Once a carpenter ant queen mates, sheds her wings, and founds a nest, she never leaves again — yet can live over a decade, among the longest-lived insects, though her workers often live under two years.

Range

China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and surrounding parts of East Asia

Status

Common

Anatomy

• Jaws (mandibles) — The major workers’ mandibles are stout and powerful, used to cut up food and defend the nest
• Waist (petiole) — A slender, waist-like structure connecting the thorax and abdomen that lets the abdomen swing flexibly
• Rear abdomen (gaster) — Contains the crop, which can temporarily store honeydew to carry back to the nest and share with nestmates
• Antennae — Elbowed antennae used to recognize nestmates’ scent and pass along pheromone signals
• Compound eyes — Vision is limited; the colony navigates mainly by scent rather than sight
• Legs — Claws and sticky pads at the tip of each foot let the ant climb vertical, smooth surfaces

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