Camponotus herculeanus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Camponotus herculeanus (or Hercules ant) is a species of ant in the genus Camponotus, the carpenter ants, occurring in Northern Eurasia, from Norway to Eastern Siberia, and North America. First described as Formica herculeana by Linnaeus in 1758, the species was moved to Camponotus by Mayr in 1861.
The colony of Camponotus herculeanus consists of one or several wingless females (queens), some fertile males, and three castes of sterile workers, known as majors, intermediates, and minors, in decreasing order of size. The queens are large, about 15 mm (0.6 in) in length, and are blackish in colour. The males are a similar colour but about half the size of the queens. The workers usually have blackish heads and gasters, and dark reddish-brown mesosomas, petioles and legs. In majors, the scapes (the long segments of the antenna, before the elbow) are shorter than the length of the head; in intermediates they are about the same length, and in minors, they extend well beyond the back of the head. The head and the dorsal surfaces of the mesosoma and gaster of the largest majors are bristly.
Camponotus herculeanus has a widespread distribution... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 3 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 12 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 14 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hercules Carpenter Ant sighting in Acadia National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 164th most-seen of the 405 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–June and August–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hercules Carpenter Ant in Acadia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hercules Carpenter Ant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Hercules Carpenter Ant sightings, Acadia National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kluane National Park (Canada, about 20%), Tatra National Park (Slovakia, about 20%) and Denali National Park (United States, about 20%).
Same genus: Camponotus
The closest relatives of the Hercules Carpenter Ant that you can see in Acadia National Park (genus Camponotus, Carpenter Ants, Typical Sugar Ants and Allies) are Eastern Black Carpenter Ant (about 10%) and New York Carpenter Ant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hercules Carpenter Ant is recorded against all the insects logged in Acadia National Park (14 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
