Polyrhachis goramensis

Polyrhachis goramensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Polyrhachis
Subgenus:	Cyrtomyrma
Species:	P. goramensis
Binomial name
Polyrhachis goramensis Emery, 1887 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Polyrhachis coronata Santschi, 1928 Polyrhachis obsidiana Karavaiev, 1927

Karavaiev (1927) reported a collection of the synonymous Polyrhachis obsidiana from a carton nest on a tree trunk, near a stream in the jungle.

Identification

Polyrhachis goramensis is characterised by: a distinctly swollen pronotal dorsum; a moderately impressed pro-mesonotal suture; short, acute propodeal spines that are sometimes reduced to a pair of tubercules, and distinctly elongated lateral petiolar spines. It is rather similar to Polyrhachis integra from Indonesia. Both have a rather massive pronotum with widely rounded sides, the mesosomal dorsum rapidly descending from the summit of the pronotum to the declivity and short, but distinct, propodeal spines. However, they are easily distinguished, with Polyrhachis integra having a distinctly higher pronotum, the mesonotum virtually straight in lateral view, and the lateral petiolar spines reduced to short teeth. In Polyrhachis goramensis the mesonotal dorsum is convex in lateral view and the widely diverging lateral petiolar spines are more than twice as long as the dorsal pair. (Kohout 2006)

Keys including this Species

• Key to New Guinea Polyrhachis Cyrtomyrma

Distribution

Endemic to Seram Island.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Indonesia (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

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0906786. Photographer Michele Esposito, 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.

• goramensis. Polyrhachis rastellata var. goramensis Emery, 1887a: 239 (w.) INDONESIA (Goram I.). Combination in P. (Cyrtomyrma): Emery, 1925b: 208. Subspecies of euryala: Donisthorpe, 1938c: 260. Raised to species and senior synonym of coronata: Kohout, 1998: 527. See also: Kohout, 2006b: 126.
• obsidiana. Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) obsidiana Karavaiev, 1927e: 50, fig. 21 (w.q.m.) INDONESIA (Ambon I.). [Junior primary homonym of obsidiana Emery, above.] Replacement name: coronata Santschi, 1928h: 140.
• coronata. Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) coronata Santschi, 1928h: 140. Replacement name for obsidiana Karavaiev, 1927e: 50. [Junior primary homonym of obsidiana Emery, 1921e: 21.] Junior synonym of goramensis: Kohout, 1998: 527.

The following notes on V.A. Karavaiev type specimens have been provided by Martynov & Radchenko (2016) based on material held in the Institute of Zoology, Ukrainian Academy of Science:

Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) obsidiana Karawajew, 1927.

Type locality(-ies): “Amboina, 19.II.1913 (Nr. 2496), zahlreiche ww.—Ebenda (Nr. 2479, 2490, 2497), ww, qq und mm”.

Original Karawajew label(-s): “Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) / obsidiana Karavaev / typus. Amboina, 2497 / Karavaev.” and “Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) / coronata Sant. (n. nom) / Amboina, Karavaev, 2497”; “Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) / obsidiana Karavaev, typus / Amboina, 2497, Karavaev” and “Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) / coronata Sant. (n. nom.) / Amboina, Karavaev, 2497”; “Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) / coronata Sant. (n. nom.) / Amboina, Karavaev, 2496”; “Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) / coronata Sant. (n. nom.) / Amboina, Karavaev, / 2496+2497”.

Material: SYNTYPES, 18 w, 9 q (newly mounted, IN 314/6/1), 544 w, 190 q, 1 m, 1 pupa (in alcohol, IN 314/BAMS1/Karaw40–46, 56–58, 67, 68).

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

Description

Worker

Questi esemplari sono un po' piu grandi degli altri; differiscono dalla forma tipica, per la lunghezza maggiore delle spine laterali della squama. Pero la lunghezza relativa di queste spine varia moltissimo anche nella forma tipica, per cui questa differenza non ha molta importanza. I piedi sono per lo piu neri. Alcuni esemplari offrono deboli tracce di denti al metanoto.

Queen

Description of the synonymous Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) obsidiana (Karavaiev 1927).

Male

Description of the synonymous Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) obsidiana (Karavaiev 1927).

Type Material

Syntype workers Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa – as reported by Kohout (2006).

Type Locality Information

INDONESIA, Goram Island (= Seram Island), col. L.M. D’Albertis.

References

• Donisthorpe, H. 1938c. The subgenus Cyrtomyrma Forel of Polyrhachis Smith, and descriptions of new species, etc. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 11(1): 246-267 (page 260, Subspecies of euryala)
• Emery, C. 1887a [1886]. Catalogo delle formiche esistenti nelle collezioni del Museo Civico di Genova. Parte terza. Formiche della regione Indo-Malese e dell'Australia. [part]. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. 24[=(2)(4): 209-240 (page 239, worker described)
• Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 208, Combination in P. (Cyrtomyrma))
• Karavaiev, V. 1927. Ameisen aus dem Indo-Australischen Gebiet III. Académie des Sciences de l’Ukraïne. Memoires de la Classe des Sciences Physiques et Mathématiques 7(1). Travaux du Musée Zoologique 3: 3-52.
• Kohout, R. J. 1998. New synonyms and nomenclatural changes in the ant genus Polyrhachis Fr. Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Mem. Qld. Mus. 42: 505-531 (page 527, Raised to species and senior synonym of coronata)
• Kohout, R. J. 2006. Review of Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) of Australia, Borneo, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands with descriptions of new species. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 52:87-146.
• Latumahina, F., Borovanska, M., Musyafa, Sumardi, Susetya Putra, N., Janda, M. 2015. Ants of Ambon Island – diversity survey and checklist. ZooKeys 472, 43–57 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.472.8441).
• Martynov, A.V., Radchenko, A.G. 2016. Karawajew's ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Zootaxa 4097 (2): 244–254.
• Radchenko, A.G., Fisher, B.L., Esteves, F.A., Martynova, E.V., Bazhenova, T.N., Lasarenko, S.N. 2023. Ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the collection of Volodymyr Opanasovych Karawajew. Communication 1. Dorylinae, Poneromorpha and Pseudomyrmecinae. Zootaxa, 5244(1), 1–32 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5244.1.1).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• 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
• 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. 1887. Catalogo delle formiche esistenti nelle collezioni del Museo Civico di Genova. Parte terza. Formiche della regione Indo-Malese e dell'Australia. [part]. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. 24(4): 209-258.
• Emery, C. "Catalogo delle formiche esistenti nelle collezioni del Museo Civico di Genova. Parte terza. Formiche della regione Indo-Malese e dell'Australia." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genova) (2) 4, no. 24 (1887): 209-258.
• Karavaiev V. 1930. Ameisen von den Molukken und Neuguinea. (Ergebnisse der Sunda-Expedition der Notgemeinschaft der deutschen Wissenschaft 1929/30.). Zool. Anz. 92: 206-214.
• Kohout R. J. 1998. New synonyms and nomenclatural changes in the ant genus Polyrhachis Fr. Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 42: 505-531
• Kohout R.J. 2006. Review of Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) Forel of Australia, Borneo, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands with descriptions of new species. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 52: 87-146.
• Latumahina F., M. Borovanska, N. S. Putra, and M. Janda. 2015. Ants of Ambon Island – diversity survey and checklist. ZooKeys 472: 43–57.
• Martynov A. V., and A. G. Radchenko. 2016. Karawajew’s ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Zootaxa 4097 (2): 244–254.
• Viehmeyer H. 1912. Ameisen aus Deutsch Neuguinea gesammelt von Dr. O. Schlaginhaufen. Nebst einem Verzeichnisse der papuanischen Arten. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königlichen Zoologischen und Anthropologische-Ethnographischen Museums zu Dresden 14: 1-26.
• Viehmeyer H. 1914. Papuanische Ameisen. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1914: 515-535.