Polyrhachis armata defensa

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Polyrhachis armata defensa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Polyrhachis
Subgenus: Myrmhopla
Species: P. armata
Subspecies: P. armata defensa
Trinomial name
Polyrhachis armata defensa
Smith, F., 1857
Synonyms

Identification

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Philippines, Singapore (type locality).
Oriental Region: India.

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.

  • defensa. Polyrhachis defensus Smith, F. 1857a: 59 (w.) SINGAPORE. Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 192. Junior synonym of armata: Roger, 1863b: 9; Dalla Torre, 1893: 258; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 129. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of armata: Emery, 1925b: 192; Donisthorpe, 1932c: 445. Senior synonym of minor: Bingham, 1903: 393.
  • minor. Polyrhachis armata var. minor Forel, 1886d: 241 (w.) INDIA. Junior synonym of defensa: Bingham, 1903: 393.

Kohout (2007) - Polyrhachis armata was originally described from the Philippines but the type material has apparently been lost. Consequently I have compared the holotype of Polyrhachis maryatiae with the available syntypes of Polyrhachis pandarus Fr. Smith and Polyrhachis armata defensa Fr. Smith (BMNH and OXUM respectively). Both species were considered by Roger (1863), Dalla Torre (1893) and Wheeler (1919) to be junior synonyms of P. armata . However, P. defensa was later revived from synonymy by Emery (1925) and considered by him and subsequent authors, including Bolton (1995) and Dorow (1995), to be a subspecies of P. armata. This decision was presumably based on variation in the colour of the gaster which is black in the nominate subspecies and reddish-brown in defensa. I strongly suspect that the subspecific status of defensa is unwarranted but am reluctant to formalise the synonymy before a more detailed examination of the variation of P. armata across its entire geographic range.

The following notes on F. Smith type specimens have been provided by Barry Bolton (details):

Polyrhachis defensus

One worker syntype in Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Labelled “SING. 9” (= Singapore) and with a Donisthorpe type-label. A second syntype recorded by Smith, from Java, could not be found in Oxford University Museum of Natural History or The Natural History Museum.

References

  • Bingham, C. T. 1903. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera, Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-wasps. London: Taylor and Francis, 506 pp. (page 393, Senior synonym of minor)
  • Dalla Torre, K. W. von. 1893. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus. Vol. 7. Formicidae (Heterogyna). Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 289 pp. (page 258, Junior synonym of armata)
  • Donisthorpe, H. 1932c. On the identity of Smith's types of Formicidae (Hymenoptera) collected by Alfred Russell Wallace in the Malay Archipelago, with descriptions of two new species. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 10(10): 441-476 (page 445, Revived from synonymy as variety of armata)
  • Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 192, Combination in P. (Myrmhopla))
  • Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 192, Revived from synonymy as variety of armata)
  • Kohout, R.J. 2007. Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) maryatiae, a new species of the armata group from Borneo (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Formicinae). Asian Myrmecology, 1, 1–5.
  • Roger, J. 1863b. Verzeichniss der Formiciden-Gattungen und Arten. Berl. Entomol. Z. 7(B Beilage: 1-65 (page 9, Junior synonym of armata)
  • Smith, F. 1857a. Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects collected at Sarawak, Borneo; Mount Ophir, Malacca; and at Singapore, by A. R. Wallace. [part]. J. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. 2: 42-88 (page 59, worker described)
  • Wang, W.Y., Soh, E.J.Y., Yong, G.W.J., Wong, M.K.L., Benoit Guénard, Economo, E.P., Yamane, S. 2022. Remarkable diversity in a little red dot: a comprehensive checklist of known ant species in Singapore (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with notes on ecology and taxonomy. Asian Myrmecology 15: e015006 (doi:10.20362/am.015006).
  • Wheeler, W. M. 1919f. The ants of Borneo. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 63: 43-147 (page 129, Junior synonym of armata)