Iridomyrmex luteoclypeatus

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Iridomyrmex luteoclypeatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Tribe: Leptomyrmecini
Genus: Iridomyrmex
Species: I. luteoclypeatus
Binomial name
Iridomyrmex luteoclypeatus
Heterick & Shattuck, 2011

Iridomyrmex luteoclypeatus side view

Iridomyrmex luteoclypeatus top view

This species forages diurnally, but nothing else is known about it.

Identification

Workers of I. luteoclypeatus are very similar to those of Iridomyrmex bicknelli, and collection material has certainly been confused with that species in the past. Nonetheless, the two species can be distinguished by dint of the appearance of the posterior margin of the head (weakly to strongly convex in I. bicknelli, planar in I. luteoclypeatus) and the sides of the head when the ant is seen in full-face view (convergent towards the mandibles in I. bicknelli and parallel or weakly convex in I. luteoclypeatus). Iridomyrmex luteoclypeatus workers are also a dull brown, whereas those of I. bicknelli are generally very dark brown or black with bluish to yellowish-green iridescence.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

This species is generally distributed in the dry centre of Australia from extreme north-eastern Western Australia to extreme western Queensland and south throughout South Australia, and has recently been identified from a worker collected in a sand dune in Carnarvon on the mid-west coast in Western Australia. Thus far, no samples have been taken in New South Wales, Victoria or Tasmania.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -13.41666985° to -34.33333206°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • luteoclypeatus. Iridomyrmex luteoclypeatus Heterick & Shattuck, 2011: 97, fig. 47 (w.) AUSTRALIA.

Type Material

Description

Worker Description. Head. Posterior margin of head weakly convex to planar; erect setae on posterior margin in full-face view, present in small aggregations on one or both sides of posterior margin of head, or in full-face view, present singly or as a couple of setae on either side of posterior margin of head; sides of head noticeably convex, or straight or weakly convex; erect genal setae absent from sides of head in full-face view (one to a few small setae may be present near mandibular insertion). Ocelli absent; in full-face view, eyes set above midpoint of head capsule; in profile, eye set anteriad of head capsule; eye semi-circular, or asymmetrical, curvature of inner eye margin more pronounced than that of its outer margin. Frontal carinae concave, or straight; antennal scape surpassing posterior margin of head by 0.2–0.5 x its length. Erect setae on scape absent, except at tip; prominence on anteromedial clypeal margin projecting as blunt but distinct protuberance; mandible elongate triangular with oblique basal margin; long, curved setae on venter of head capsule absent. Mesosoma. Pronotum weakly undulant or almost straight. Erect pronotal setae sparse (6 or fewer) and bristly. Mesonotum evenly curved. Erect mesonotal setae sparse (6 or fewer) and bristly. Mesothoracic spiracles always inconspicuous; propodeal dorsum straight and long (half as long again as length of propodeal declivity); placement of propodeal spiracle mesad, more than its diameter away from propodeal declivity; propodeal angle weakly present or absent, the confluence of the dorsal and declivitous propodeal faces indicated, if at all, by an undulation. Erect propodeal setae sparse (6 or fewer) and bristly. Petiole. Dorsum of node convex; node thin, scale-like, orientation more-or-less vertical. Gaster. Non-marginal erect setae of gaster present or absent on first gastral tergite; marginal erect setae of gaster present on first tergite, or absent on first tergite. General characters. Allometric differences between workers of same nest absent. Colour mandibles and lower clypeal region yellow, legs pale brown, rest of ant medium to dark brown with pale bluish to purple iridescence. Colour of erect setae yellow.

Measurements. Worker (n = 4)—CI 79–82; EI 34–35; EL 0.24–0.26; EW 0.18–0.19; HFL 1.31–1.38; HL 0.87–0.92; HW 0.72–0.74; ML 1.18–1.26; MTL 0.95–0.99; PpH 0.14–0.16; PpL 0.47–0.51; SI 124–129; SL 0.89– 0.95.

Etymology

Latin: ‘luteus’ ‘yellow’ plus ‘clypeatus’ ‘shield-shaped’; referring to the large yellow sectors on the clypeus in typical workers of this species.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Heterick B. E., and S. Shattuck. 2011. Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 2845: 1-174.