Golden-tailed Sugar Ant Camponotus aeneopilosus

This eastern Australian native belongs to Camponotus, the carpenter ant genus famous for building elaborate nests in dead wood throughout forests and gardens. The distinctive golden or bronze-colored tail makes identification straightforward. Like other sugar ants in the genus, they're attracted to honeydew produced by sap-feeding insects like scale insects and aphids, making them regular visitors to trees and shrubs. They're generalist foragers that will also hunt small insects and scavenge dead arthropods, playing an important role in nutrient cycling.