Zasphinctus occidentalis

Zasphinctus occidentalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dorylinae
Genus:	Zasphinctus
Species:	Z. occidentalis
Binomial name
Zasphinctus occidentalis (Clark, 1924) Specimen labels

In the SWBP this species is not very often seen, but their colonies can be found under rocks or logs (Heterick 2009).

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Zasphinctus of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - Sphinctomyrmex occidentalis is confined to the south-west corner of Australia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -31.89722° to -31.9°.

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

Images from AntWeb

Cotype of Zasphinctus occidentalis. Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0173061. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MCZ, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

• occidentalis. Eusphinctus (Eusphinctus) occidentalis Clark, 1924a: 74, fig. 1 (w.q.l.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: 360 syntype workers, 20 syntype queens.
  • [Note: numbers given by Clark in text.]
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Mundaring (J. Clark).
  • Type-depository: MVMA.
  • Combination in Sphinctomyrmex: Brown, 1975: 33;
  • combination in Zasphinctus: Borowiec, M.L. 2016: 243.
  • Status as species: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 51; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392; Heterick, 2009: 131.
  • Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

• Syntype, 3 workers, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Australian Museum.
• Syntype, 2 workers, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Syntype, 2 workers, 1 queen, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Syntype, worker, queen, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
• Syntype, 3 workers, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.

References

• Borowiec, M.L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1-280 (doi: 10.3897/zookeys.608.9427).
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1975. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. V. Ponerinae, tribes Platythyreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search Agric. (Ithaca N. Y.) 5(1 1: 1-115 (page 33, Combination in Sphinctomyrmex)
• Clark, J. 1924a [1923]. Australian Formicidae. J. Proc. R. Soc. West. Aust. 9: 72-89 (page 74, fig. 1 worker, queen, larva described)
• [[Media:Heterick 2009b.pdf|Heterick, B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76*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).

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