Tetraponera inversinodis

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Tetraponera inversinodis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Pseudomyrmecinae
Genus: Tetraponera
Species: T. inversinodis
Binomial name
Tetraponera inversinodis
Ward, 2001

Tetraponera inversinodis casent0902832 p 1 high.jpg

Tetraponera inversinodis casent0902832 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Most collections are from lowland rainforest but the type series was collected from mangrove twigs. Another Lowery collection has the habitat given as “gardens and relict rain forest”. (Ward 2001)

Identification

Ward (2001) - This species is closely related to, and sympatric with, Tetraponera difficilis, from which it can be consistently separated by the larger eye size. The differences in the shape of the profemur (shorter and broader in T. inversinodis) and length of the metatibia (shorter in T. inversinodis) are also diagnostic, when body size is taken into account. Another generally useful feature for recognizing T. inversinodis workers is the “reversed-node” shape of the petiole, in which the anterior face of the node is short and steep and contrasts with the longer and more gently sloping posterior face. In T. difficilis the node is usually more symmetrical in profile. Some caution should be exercised in using this character, however, because it covaries with size, and the largest T. inversinodis workers (HW >0.85) have a petiole shape approaching that of T. difficilis.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 9.433333333° to -1.25°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo (type locality), Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore.

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

Nomenclature

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

  • inversinodis. Tetraponera inversinodis Ward, 2001: 629, figs. 101, 103, 109, 146, 160, 172 (w.q.m.) BORNEO.

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

Description

Worker

HW 0.77-0.94, HL 0.86-1.23, LHT 0.59-0.74, CI 0.77-0.89, FCI 0.13-0.15, REL 0.39-0.47, REL2 0.51-0.56, SI 0.55-0.59, SI3 1.01-1.13, FI 0.46-0.54, PLI 0.58-0.68, PWI 0.44-0.56, PDI 1.03-1.17, LHT/HW 0. 77-0.82, CSC 2-3, MSC 1-3.

Similar to Tetraponera difficilis except as follows: averaging smaller in size, FL 0.52-0.65 (0.60-0.73 in T. difficilis; compare also HW and LHT values); eyes more elongate, REL2 >0.50 and EL/LHT 0.64-0.70 (T. difficilis: REL2 0.44-0.48; EL/LHT 0.52-0.60); scape length exceeding eye length, but not markedly so (SB <1.15); profemur broader and shorter, FLI HL 0.53-0.62, EL/FL 0.74-0.82 (T. difficilis: FL/HL 0.60-0.67; EL/FL 0.60-0.66); profemur index (FI) values overlapping those of T. difficilis, but generally not within a given size class; hind leg shorter, LHT/HL 0.61-0.71 (T. difficilis: LHT/HL 0.67-0.80), and these values also not overlapping those of T. difficilis with the same head width; petiole shorter, PL/HL 0.50-0.55 (v. 0.54-0.61 in T. difficilis), the anterior face of the node usually much shorter and more steeply inclined than the posterior face. Standing pilosity even less common than in T. difficilis: CSC 2-3, MSC 1-3, dorsum of petiole and postpetiole usually lacking standing pilosity, rarely with several very short (0.03-0.06 mm long) erect or suberect setae. Appressed pubescence on abdominal tergite IV moderately dense, the hairs separated by their lengths or less.

Type Material

Holotype. Worker, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 5°59'N 116°04'E, 14.x.l978 (B. B. Lowery (Australian National Insect Collection). Paratypes. Series of workers, alate queens, males, same data as holotype (ANIC, The Natural History Museum, Forest Research Center, Ant Museum, Entomological Laboratory and Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, KUES, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Philip S. Ward Collection, RMBR, Institute of Zoology, Ukrainian Academy of Science, University of California, Davis, Universiti Malaysia Sabah).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • CSIRO Collection
  • Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
  • Ward P. S. 2001. Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15: 589-665.
  • Ward, P. S. 2001. Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15:589-665.