 The black-headed sugar ant was described from a holotype worker by British entomologist Frederick Smith in his 1858 publication Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part VI. Formicidae, and was originally placed in the genus Formica. Some years later, the species was assigned to the genus Camponotus by German entomologist Julius Roger. The specific name, nigriceps, is a combination of nigri, which derives from the Latin word nigra, meaning "black", and ceps, which is derived from the Greek word cephalē, meaning "head". This references the distinctive black head of the ant.
