Myrmecia chasei

Myrmecia chasei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species group:	pilosula
Species:	M. chasei
Binomial name
Myrmecia chasei Forel, 1894 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Myrmecia pilosula mediorubra Forel, 1910

Identification

Heterick (2009) - Myrmecia chasei and Myrmecia ludlowi have the same coloration as Myrmecia elegans, but are more robust ants with hairy tibiae. The separation of the two species by Ogata and Taylor (1991) is based purely on the colour of the mandibles (yellow in chasei, dark brown in ludlowi), but specimens seen by this author are not so easily distinguished, many having intermediate light to medium brown mandibles. Both species (if indeed they are separable species) are found in the Darling Range, including the Perth area.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Myrmecia Species
• Key to Myrmecia of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -22.85° to -35°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

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.

Castes

Queen-worker difference in body size appears to be larger in M. chasei than in other species of Myrmecia. Queens are 22-24 millimetres long, while workers are 12-15.5 millimetres long (Wheeler 1933 p. 59).

Dealate queen of Myrmecia chasei. From Harvard MCZ collection. Photograph by Roberto Keller

Worker of M. chasei. Note different scale from queen image. From Harvard MCZ collection. Photograph by Roberto Keller

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Myrmecia pilosula mediorubra. Worker. Specimen code casent0907091. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Male (alate). Specimen code casent0903663. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Phylogeny

Myrmecia

gulosa group Myrmecia esuriens Myrmecia midas Myrmecia pulchra Myrmecia mjobergi Myrmecia regularis Myrmecia forficata Myrmecia brevinoda Myrmecia erecta Myrmecia pyriformis Myrmecia browningi Myrmecia sp. Myrmecia analis Myrmecia minuscula Myrmecia comata Myrmecia rowlandi Myrmecia flavicoma Myrmecia tarsata Myrmecia tridentata Myrmecia eungellensis Myrmecia fabricii Myrmecia athertonensis Myrmecia auriventris Myrmecia borealis Myrmecia gulosa Myrmecia forceps Myrmecia simillima Myrmecia arnoldi Myrmecia fulgida Myrmecia pavida Myrmecia vindex Myrmecia fuscipes Myrmecia (near nigriceps) Myrmecia desertorum Myrmecia nigriceps Myrmecia nigriceps Myrmecia inquilina nigrocincta group Myrmecia flammicollis Myrmecia petiolata Myrmecia nigrocincta picta group Myrmecia fucosa Myrmecia picta Myrmecia infima Myrmecia urens apicalis group Myrmecia apicalis pilosula group Myrmecia testaceipes Myrmecia acuta Myrmecia chasei Myrmecia clarki Myrmecia dispar Myrmecia occidentalis Myrmecia tepperi Myrmecia elegans Myrmecia varians Myrmecia banksi Myrmecia croslandi Myrmecia impaternata Myrmecia haskinsorum Myrmecia pilosula Myrmecia pilosula Myrmecia (near pilosula)

Based on Mera-Rodríguez et al. (2023).

Nomenclature

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

• chasei. Myrmecia chasei Forel, 1894e: 235 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: holotype worker.
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Perth (Chase).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • Clark, 1943: 116 (q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1971d: 247 (l.).
  • Combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 115;
  • combination in Myrmecia: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7.
  • Status as species: Forel, 1907h: 267; Emery, 1911d: 21; Clark, 1943: 115 (redescription); Clark, 1951: 212 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata, 1991a: 361; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1640 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 270; Heterick, 2009: 123.
  • Senior synonym of mediorubra: Clark, 1943: 115; Clark, 1951: 212; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 270.
  • Distribution: Australia.
• mediorubra. Myrmecia pilosula subsp. mediorubra Forel, 1910b: 7 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: holotype worker.
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, King George Sound (no collector’s name).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 59 (w.).
  • Combination in M. (Promyrmecia): Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 58.
  • Subspecies of pilosula: Emery, 1911d: 21; Viehmeyer, 1914b: 28.
  • Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 58.
  • Junior synonym of chasei: Clark, 1943: 115; Clark, 1951: 212; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 272.

Type Material

• Myrmecia chasei: Holotype, worker, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
• Myrmecia pilosula mediorubra: Holotype, worker, King George Sound, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.

Description

Karyotype

• 2n = 47 (Australia) (Meyne et al., 1995; Hirai et al., 1996).

References

• Clark, J. 1943. A revision of the genus Promyrmecia Emery (Formicidae). Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 13: 83-149 (page 116, queen, male described; page 115, Combination in Promyrmecia), Senior synonym of mediorubra)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
• Forel, A. 1894e. Quelques fourmis de Madagascar (récoltées par M. le Dr. Voltzkow); de Nouvelle Zélande (récoltées par M. W. W. Smith); de Nouvelle Calédonie (récoltées par M. Sommer); de Queensland (Australie) (récoltées par M. Wiederkehr); et de Perth (Australie. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 38: 226-237 (page 235, worker described)
• Heterick, B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206.
• Heterick, B.E. 2021. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part I: Systematics. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 86, 1-245 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2021.001-245).
• Heterick, B.E. 2022. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part II: Distribution and biology. Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement 86: 247-510 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2022.247-510).
• Mera-Rodríguez, D., Jourdan, H., Ward, P.S., Shattuck, S., Cover, S.P., Wilson, E.O., Rabeling, C. 2023. Biogeography and evolution of social parasitism in Australian Myrmecia bulldog ants revealed by phylogenomics. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 186, 107825 (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107825).
• Taylor, R. W.; Brown, D. R. 1985. Formicoidea. Zool. Cat. Aust. 2:1- 149: 1-149, 30 (page 7, Combination in Myrmecia)
• Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1971d. Ant larvae of the subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pan-Pac. Entomol. 47: 245-256 (page 247, larva described)
• Wheeler, G.C. 1933. Colony-founding among ants, with an account of some primitive Australian species. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Forel A. 1894. Quelques fourmis de Madagascar (récoltées par M. le Dr. Voltzkow); de Nouvelle Zélande (récoltées par M. W. W. Smith); de Nouvelle Calédonie (récoltées par M. Sommer); de Queensland (Australie) (récoltées par M. Wiederkehr); et de Perth (Australie. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 38: 226-237.
• Heterick B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 76: 1-206. 
• Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.