Monomorium australe

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Monomorium australe
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Solenopsidini
Genus: Monomorium
Species: M. australe
Binomial name
Monomorium australe
Emery, 1886

Monomorium australe casent0904584 p 1 high.jpg

Monomorium australe casent0904584 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Nothing is known about the biology of Monomorium australe.

Identification

Bolton (1987) - A member of the M. australe complex in the M. salomonis species group.

M. australe and its close relatives Monomorium anceps and Monomorium termitarium, are members of the salomonis-group and may represent only a single species, but more material is necessary before any sound conclusions can be drawn.

As the three names M. australe, M. anceps and M. termitarium constitute a very close triad which may represent only one real species, the usual format of the revision is abandoned here so that the three may be considered together.

These three southern African forms are retained for the present as separate species until more material is collected for study, at which time it may be possible to show whether they are indeed separate or whether two or all of them are synonymous. All three are represented only by short syntypic series at the time of writing. The three together are characterized by the following snared characters within the salomonis group.

Relatively small forms, their combined dimensions being TL 2.4-2.6, HL 0.60-0.66, HW 0.46-0.52, CI 75-79, SL 0.47-0.54, SI 100-104, PW 0.30-0.35, AL 0.68.0-76. Maximum diameter of eye 0.24-0.26 x HW and with 7-9 ommatidia in the longest row. [Note that this combined range of dimensions is no greater than those frequently encountered in what are indubitably single species elsewhere in this species-group.]

Head with feebly developed shagreenate-granular sculpture so that the cephalic dorsum appears weakly shining and semi-smooth. Dorsal alitrunk lacking standing hairs of any description. Petiole with a single pair of backward directed hairs, postpetiole with 1-2 pairs of hairs. First gastral tergite with 2-3 pairs of hairs in front of the apical transverse row, the hairs confined to the basal half of the sclerite.

Within the limits of this diagnosis the dimensions of the three are as follows.

M. termitarium syntypes, TL 2.5-2.6, HL 0.60-0.64, HW 0.46-0.51 , CI 75-79, SL 0.48-0.53, SI 100-104, PW 0.30-0.35, AL 0.70-0.76; maximum diameter of eye 0.24-0.25 x HW, with 7-8 ommatidia in the longest row (6 measured).

M. australe syntypes, TL 2.5-2.6, HL 0.64-0.66, HW 0.50-0.52, CI 78-79, SL 0.50-0.54, SI 100-104, PW 0.32-0.34, AL 0.74-0.76; maximum diameter of eye 0.25-0.26 x HW, with 9 ommatidia in the longest row (4 measured).

M. anceps syntypes, TL 2.4, HL 0.60, HW 0.47, CI 78, SL 0.47, SI 100, PW 0.30, AL 0.68; maximum diameter of eye 0.26 x HW, with 7-8 ommatidia in the longest row (2 measured).

Characters which presently serve to isolate the three syntypic series include colour, sculpture and gastral pilosity, but all are weak and may prove to be gradient. For the present the differentiation is as follows.

M. termitarium is a uniformly yellow species from Botswana in which the mesonotal dorsum is superficially reticulate-punctate. The pronotal dorsum is similarly sculptured but the sculpture is more reduced and somewhat effaced so that the punctures are vestigial. In other words the pronotal dorsal sculpture is obviously a reduced and effaced version of that seen on the mesonotum. Two pairs of hairs are present on the basal half of the first gastral tergite.

M. australe, from Cape Province, South Africa, is a medium brown species with a darker brown gaster. Dorsal alitrunk sculpture corresponds with the above, being reticulate-punctate on the mesonotum and feebly reticulate on the pronotum, again the pronotal sculpture obviously a reduced and effaced version ofthe mesonotal. The syntypes show varying degrees of abrasion but it appears that two pairs of hairs occur on the basal half of the first gastral tergite.

M. anceps, from Transvaal, South Africa, is medium brown with a darker brown gaster. The mesonotal dorsum is sharply reticulate-punctate whilst the pronotal dorsum is finely shagreenate. In other words the two areas show distinctly contrasting sculpture and the pronotal component does not appear to be merely a reduced and effaced version of that seen on the mesonotum. Three pairs of hairs occur on the basal half of the first gastral tergite.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -21.17944° to -34.06511°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Botswana, South Africa (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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.
pChart

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.
pChart

Biology

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Monomorium australe casent0905757 h 1 high.jpgMonomorium australe casent0905757 d 1 high.jpgMonomorium australe casent0905757 p 1 high.jpgMonomorium australe casent0905757 l 1 high.jpg
Type of unavailable quadrinomial: Monomorium subopacum australe laeviceps. Worker. Specimen code casent0905757. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

  • australe. Monomorium subopacum r. australe Emery, 1886: 363 (w.q.) SOUTH AFRICA.
    • Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queen(s) (numbers not stated).
    • Type-locality: South Africa: Cape of Good Hope (L. Peringuey).
    • Type-depositories: MRAC, MSNG.
    • Forel, 1913j: 216 (q.).
    • Combination in M. (Parholcomyrmex): Santschi, 1917b: 282; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 873.
    • Subspecies of salomonis: Emery, in Dalla Torre, 1893: 70 (footnote); Forel, 1913j: 216; Arnold, 1916: 225; Arnold, 1926: 229.
    • Subspecies of subopacum: Ettershank, 1966: 87.
    • Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 65; Santschi, 1917b: 282; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 873; Emery, 1922e: 179; Bolton, 1987: 337 (redescription); Bolton, 1995b: 259.
    • Material of the unavailable name laeviceps referred here by Santschi, 1917b: 282; Emery, 1922e: 179; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 873; Arnold, 1926: 230; Bolton, 1987: 337.
    • Distribution: Botswana, South Africa.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Bolton (1987) - Syntype workers, South Africa: Cape of Good Hope (L. Peringuey) (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa; Musee Royal de I' Afrique Centrale) [examined].

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Arnold G. 1916. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part II. Ponerinae, Dorylinae. Annals of the South African Museum. 14: 159-270.
  • Arnold G. 1926. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Appendix. Annals of the South African Museum. 23: 191-295.
  • Bolton B. 1987. A review of the Solenopsis genus-group and revision of Afrotropical Monomorium Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 54: 263-452.
  • Ettershank G. 1966. A generic revision of the world Myrmicinae related to Solenopsis and Pheidologeton (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Aust. J. Zool. 14: 73-171.
  • Forel A. 1913. Ameisen aus Rhodesia, Kapland usw. (Hym.) gesammelt von Herrn G. Arnold, Dr. H. Brauns und Anderen. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1913(Suppl.): 203-225.
  • IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
  • Koen J. H., and W. Breytenbach. 1988. Ant species richness of fynbos and forest ecosystems in the Southern Cape. South Afr. Tydskr. Dierk. 23(3): 184-188.
  • Santschi F. 1917. Fourmis nouvelles de la Colonie du Cap, du Natal et de Rhodesia. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 85: 279-296.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004
Retrieved from "https://antwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Monomorium_australe&oldid=702676"