associates with
Crematogaster schmidti while displaying interspecific trail following behaviour on their trail
The Camponotus displayes interspecific trail following behaviour on the trails of the Crematogaster. The Camponotus evade the Crematogaster with swift movements when met with them on the trails. I was able to identify the Camponotus as " Camponotus lateralis species group" but I needed a microscope to identify further. However going off by distribution, the only species matching should be Camponotus lateralis when we take into account distribution and morphology (including coloration) that I was able to observe by eye and my camera. I also didn't collect the Crematogaster to examine them under a microscope but I'm almost sure that they are schmidti going off by distribution and morphology since Crematogaster gullukdagensis (a similar looking species) is very far away regionally. So take in the information on species identifications with some skepticism. This observation is from Turkiye/İstanbul/"Validebağ Korusu"
This behaviour is called interspecific trail following or trail sharing in the literature. Examples: (Wilson, 1965; Schifani et al, 2021)
It is known to occur between Crematogaster schmidti and Camponotus lateralis ( Stukalyuk & Radchenko, 2011). This species pair was examined in detail in (Stukalyuk et al, 2023).
Camponotus lateralis in the eastern, Crematogaster schmidti range has similar coloration to Crematogaster schmidti making use of batesian mimicry while Camponotus lateralis in the western, Crematogaster scutellaris range has coloration similar to Crematogaster scutellaris (Seifert, 2018; Wagner, 2012).
References:
Schifani, Enrico & Giannetti, Daniele & Csősz, Sándor & Castellucci, Filippo & Luchetti, Andrea & Castracani, Cristina & Spotti, Fiorenza Augusta & Mori, Alessandra & Grasso, Donato. (2022). Is mimicry a diversification-driver in ants? Biogeography, ecology, ethology, genetics and morphology define a second West-Palaearctic Colobopsis species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 194. 1424-1450. 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab035.
Seifert B. 2018. The ants of Central and North Europe. Tauer: Lutra Verlags-und Vertriebsgesellschaft.
Stukalyuk, Stanislav & Radchenko, Vladimir. (2011). Structure of multi-species ant assemblages (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Mountain Crimea. Entomological Review. 91. 15-36. 10.1134/S0013873811010039.
Stukalyuk, Stanislav & Gladun, Dmytro & Akhmedov, Askar. (2023). BEHAVIOURAL PATTERNS AND MORPHOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES FAVOUR SUCCESSFUL USE OF Crematogaster schmidti TRAILS BY Camponotus lateralis WORKERS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE). 27. 125-149. 10.17576/serangga-2023-2803-09.
Wagner HC (It was mentioned as pers. comm. 2012 in the book Seifert B. 2018. The ants of Central and North Europe. Tauer: Lutra Verlags-und Vertriebsgesellschaft.): significant evidence for Batesian mimicry in prey avoidance tests with Podarcis sicula lizards.
Wilson, Edward. (1965). Trail Sharing in Ants. Psyche, Camb.. 72. 10.1155/1965/24875.