Sluggin' Along: The Prince Consort: Winged Reddish Carpenter Ant

The presence of wings on an ant signifies that it is able to reproduce (i.e. is sexually mature), and consequently it is either a male that has not yet mated and died, or a female that has not yet mated and shed her wings to become a queen. Such ants are called "alates" to distinguish them from ants that can reproduce but have no wings.

Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies), and most are members of the superfamily Formicoidea, family Formicidae. But where do you go from there to identify your specimen? It's tricky, really. You have to note various characteristics in order to narrow the ID down to a genus. The most commonly found ants will fall into the subfamily Formicinae. This taxon includes Carpenter Ants (genus Camponotus). Based on my photos, I believe my specimen is likely a male Reddish Carpenter Ant (subgenus Tanaemyrmex), Camponotus castaneus. The species name castaneus means "chestnut-colored." I found this handsome guy resting on crepe myrtle. Sadly, his sole duty is to fly out of the colony and mate with a foreign alate queen. Then he will die. A brief life, but perhaps a better one than that of the infertile workers toiling day after day in the soil.