Camponotus rufipes
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Camponotus rufipes is a dark-brown ant with reddish-yellow legs and a body covered in fine reddish hairs. Workers of this species measure about 6 mm in length. Nocturnal in habit, they attack beehives and build ground nests shaped like a mound of dry grass, approximately 20–30 cm in diameter.
These ants are very common in Southeastern Brazil and are highly aggressive, delivering painful bites accompanied by venom secretion at the bite site, which can cause mild burns. They lack a stinger, and their venom is primarily composed of formic acid.
This is a still poorly studied ant species, with limited research on its biology. Males undergo four larval stages, featuring various types of hairs that play a role in their life cycle. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cochabamba | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Camponotus rufipes sighting in Porto Alegre on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 54th most-seen of the 226 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, June and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Camponotus rufipes in Porto Alegre on a given day, against under 5% in May, the lowest month.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Camponotus rufipes sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Camponotus rufipes sightings, Porto Alegre ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Cochabamba (Bolivia, about 20%).
Same genus: Camponotus
The closest relatives of the Camponotus rufipes that you can see in Porto Alegre (genus Camponotus, Carpenter Ants, Typical Sugar Ants and Allies) are Shimmering Golden Sugar Ant (about 10%) and Camponotus mus (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Camponotus rufipes is recorded against all the insects logged in Porto Alegre (25 verified sightings), 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.
