Namib Desert Dune Ant

Camponotus detritus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae

Also called: Desert Balbyter ant

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Namib Desert Dune Ant
Photo: Robert Taylor, CC BY

The Namib Desert dune ant is a relatively large ant with white and black symmetrical stripes on a hairy abdomen and weighs about 45 mg. It lives on the hot, dry dunes of the central Namib Desert in southern Africa, where it drinks honeydew from scale insects and also feeds on dead insects.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The ant has white and black symmetrical stripes on its hairy abdomen.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

An adult weighs about 45 mg (0.0016 oz).

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It lives on the hot, dry dunes of the central Namib Desert in southern Africa.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

It climbs plant stalks to drink honeydew from scale insects and also eats dead insects.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Namib Desert Dune Ant photo 2
Photo: Tom Field, CC BY
Namib Desert Dune Ant photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Namib Desert Dune Ant photo 4
Photo: marius, CC BY
Namib Desert Dune Ant photo 5
Photo: Andrew Durso, CC BY

Same family (Formicidae)

Eastern Black Carpenter AntEastern Black Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusCan damage your homeRed Imported Fire AntRed Imported Fire AntSolenopsis invictaCan stingAmerican Winter AntAmerican Winter AntPrenolepis imparisArgentine AntArgentine AntLinepithema humileNuisance, not dangerousImmigrant Pavement AntImmigrant Pavement AntTetramorium immigransCan stingOdorous House AntOdorous House AntTapinoma sessileCan damage your home

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namib_Desert_dune_ant

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.