Polyrhachis exercita

Polyrhachis exercita
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Polyrhachis
Subgenus:	Campomyrma
Species:	P. exercita
Binomial name
	Polyrhachis exercita; (Walker, 1859) Specimen Labels
Subspecies
	Polyrhachis exercita lucidiventris Forel, 1907; Polyrhachis exercita obtusisquama Forel, 1902; Polyrhachis exercita rastrata Emery, 1889;
Synonyms
	Polyrhachis clypeatus Mayr, 1862; Polyrhachis indica Mayr, 1870;

Photo Gallery

Worker from the Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Photo by Manoj Vembayam.
Worker from the Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Photo by Manoj Vembayam.

File:Polyrhachis exercita colony .mp4

Identification

Keys including this Species

Key to Polyrhachis of India

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 32.474167° to 10.96934°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka (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.

Biology

Association with Other Organisms

Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

This species is a prey for the tiger beetle Cicindela flavomaculata (a predator) in Western Ghats, India (Sinu et al., 2006).
This species is a prey for the tiger beetle Cicindela whithilli (a predator) in Western Ghats, India (Sinu et al., 2006).

Castes

Images from AntWeb


Worker. Specimen code casent0281352. Photographer Cerise Chen, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by UCDC, Davis, CA, USA.


Holotype of Polyrhachis exercita. Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0903298. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

exercita. Formica exercita Walker, 1859: 370 (q.m.) SRI LANKA. Combination in Polyrhachis: Donisthorpe, 1932b: 575; in P. (Campomyrma): Bolton, 1995b: 348; Dorow, 1995: 14. Senior synonym of clypeata (and its junior synonym indica): Donisthorpe, 1932b: 575. Current subspecies: nominal plus lucidiventris, obtusisquama, rastrata.
clypeatus. Polyrhachis clypeatus Mayr, 1862: 683 (q.) SRI LANKA. Combination in P. (Campomyrma): Wheeler, W.M. 1911c: 860. Senior synonym of indica: Dalla Torre, 1893: 260; Forel, 1893c: 29. Junior synonym of exercita: Donisthorpe, 1932b: 575.
indica. Polyrhachis indica Mayr, 1870b: 945 (w.) INDIA. Junior synonym of clypeata: Dalla Torre, 1893: 260; Forel, 1893c: 58.

Description

References

Baidya, P., Bagchi, S. 2021. Influence of human land use and invasive species on beta diversity of tropical ant assemblages. Insect Conservation and Diversity, icad.12536 (doi:10.1111/icad.12536).
Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 348, Combination in P. (Campomyrma))
Chanda, A. 2017. A study on ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Medinipur, West Bengal, India. International Journal of Entomological Research 2(5): 1-4.
Donisthorpe, H. 1932b. On the identity of some ants from Ceylon described by F. Walker. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 10(9): 574-576 (page 575, Combination in Polyrhachis)
Donisthorpe, H. 1932b. On the identity of some ants from Ceylon described by F. Walker. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 10(9): 574-576 (page 575, Senior synonym of clypeata (and its junior synonym indica))
Dorow, W. H. O. 1995. Revision of the ant genus Polyrhachis Smith, 1857 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) on subgenus level with keys, checklist of species and bibliography. Cour. Forschungsinst. Senckenb. 185: 1-113 (page 14, Combination in P. (Campomyrma))
Liu, C., Fischer, G., Hita Garcia, F., Yamane, S., Liu, Q., Peng, Y.Q., Economo, E.P., Guénard, B., Pierce, N.E. 2020. Ants of the Hengduan Mountains: a new altitudinal survey and updated checklist for Yunnan Province highlight an understudied insect biodiversity hotspot. ZooKeys 978, 1–171 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.978.55767).
Sinu P.A., Nasser, M., Rajan, P.D. 2006. Feeding fauna and foraging habits of tiger beetles found in agro-ecosystems in Western Ghats, India. Biotropica 38(4): 500-507 (doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00174.x).
Walker, F. 1859. Characters of some apparently undescribed Ceylon insects. [part]. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 3(4): 370-376 (page 370, queen, male described)
Wong, T.L., Guénard, B. 2020. Review of ants from the genus Polyrhachis Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) in Hong Kong and Macau, with notes on their natural history. Asian Myrmecology 13: e013001 (doi:10.20362/am.013001).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
Dias R. K. S. 2002. Current knowledge on ants of Sri Lanka. ANeT Newsletter 4: 17- 21.
Dias R. K. S. 2006. Current taxonomic status of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Sri Lanka. The Fauna of Sri Lanka: 43-52. Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (Editor), 2006. Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research and Conservation. The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka. viii + 308pp.
Dias R. K. S., K. R. K. A. Kosgamage, and H. A. W. S. Peiris. 2012. The Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Ants (Order: Hymenoptera, Family: Formicidae) in Sri Lanka. In: The National Red List 2012 of Sri Lanka; Conservation Status of the Fauna and Flora. Weerakoon, D.K. & S. Wijesundara Eds., Ministry of Environment, Colombo, Sri Lanka. p11-19.
Donisthorpe H. 1942. Ants from the Colombo Museum Expedition to Southern India, September-October 1938. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (11)9: 449-461.
Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
Emery C. 1893. Voyage de M. E. Simon à l'île de Ceylan (janvier-février 1892). Formicides. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 62: 239-258.
Emery C. 1901. Ameisen gesammelt in Ceylon von Dr. W. Horn 1899. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1901: 113-122.
Fontanilla A. M., A. Nakamura, Z. Xu, M. Cao, R. L. Kitching, Y. Tang, and C. J. Burwell. 2019. Taxonomic and functional ant diversity along tropical, subtropical, and subalpine elevational transects in southwest China. Insects 10, 128; doi:10.3390/insects10050128
Forel A. 1893. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part III. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 8: 17-36.
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Forel A. 1911. Ameisen aus Ceylon, gesammelt von Prof. K. Escherich (einige von Prof. E. Bugnion). Pp. 215-228 in: Escherich, K. Termitenleben auf Ceylon. Jena: Gustav Fischer, xxxii + 262 pp.
Forel A. 1913k. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise nach Ostindien ausgeführt im Auftrage der Kgl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin von H. v. Buttel-Reepen. II. Ameisen aus Sumatra, Java, Malacca und Ceylon. Gesammelt von Herrn Prof. Dr. v. Buttel-Reepen in den Jahren 1911-1912. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 36:1-148.
Forel, A. 1908. Fourmis de Ceylan et d'Égypte récoltées par le Prof. E. Bugnion. Lasius carniolicus. Fourmis de Kerguelen. Pseudandrie? Strongylognathus testaceus. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 44: 1-22
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Sinu P. A., M. Nasser, and P. D. Rajan. 2006. Feeding fauna and foraging habits of tiger beetles found in agro-ecosystems in Western Ghats, India. Biotropica 38(4): 500-507.
Tak N., and N. S. Rathore. 2004. Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae. State Fauna Series 8: Fauna of Gujarat. Zool. Surv. India. Pp. 161-183.
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