Camponotus herculeanus
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 Isle Royale National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 48 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
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.
4th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Hercules Carpenter Ant sightings, Isle Royale National Park ranks 4th 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 order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the Hercules Carpenter Ant that you can see in Isle Royale National Park (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are Bald-Faced Hornet (about 10%), Spiny Leaf Gall Wasp (about 10%) and Sanderson's Bumble Bee (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 Isle Royale National Park (7 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.
