Camponotus rectangularis Emery, 1890

Camponotus rectangularis is a dull brick red to brown polymorphic species with a distinctively angulate propodeum, giving the mesosoma a rectangular shape. The species is native to the Neotropics, from Guatemala south to Brazil, and is occasionally intercepted at US ports of entry. Very little has been published on C. rectangularis, and the extent of its natural history is known primarily from Jack Longino’s observations from Costa Rica (see below). He noted the species prefers xeric and synanthropic habitats. Colonies were found nesting in dead branches and stems in low vegetation. Longino also mentioned that the discovery of lone foundress queens suggests a monogynous claustral founding. A handful of subspecies were described by on the basis of different color patterns (Wheeler, 1933a).