New data on the distribution and ecology of Camponotus oertzeni Forel, 1889 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus

New data on the distribution and ecology of Camponotus oertzeni Forel, 1889 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are presented. The species is recorded for Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia for the first time. In the North Caucasus (Russia), the species occupies a wide range of habitats, from humid beech-hornbeam forests in Krasnodar Region and the Republic of Adygea to moderately dry valleys in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Considerable colour variation was observed among worker caste. While typical southern populations representatives of C. oertzeni exhibit yellowish-red to reddish colouration of the head, mesosoma, and legs, northern populations from the Caucasus and Ukraine are distinctly darker, with almost black heads and mesosomas, and only slightly lighter brown to yellowish legs. This trend may reflect either genetic differentiation or environmental influence. Morphological differences from the related C. aethiops (Latreille, 1798) are discussed.