Austroponera rufonigra

Austroponera rufonigra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Austroponera
Species:	A. rufonigra
Binomial name
	Austroponera rufonigra; (Clark, 1934) Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Euponera clarki Wheeler, W.M., 1934;

This species occurs across southern Australia from Victoria to south-western Western Australia. It nests in soil and forages in leaf litter in a wide range of forested habitats.

Identification

The sole Australian species of this small genus. The other two species occur in New Zealand.

Keys including this Species

Ponerinae of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -32.333° to -35.716°.


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.

Biology

Wheeler (1934) collected specimens (reported as Euponera clarki) "near Serpentine Lake, Rottnest Island (X. 23. '31) from a small colony nesting under a stone and a female of the same species taken with a few workers at Margaret River, W.A."

Brown (1952) noted that this species is easily recognized and common in South-western Australia, despite the two original descriptions. Outside Western Australia, Clark has reported it from the Sir Joseph Banks Islands, South Australia. I have taken it at the following localities, among others: Merivale Downs, east of Esperance, Western Australia, sandplain heath and borders of yate (Eucalyptus cornuta), swamps, under logs and Xanthorrhoea stumps. Ravine des Casoars, Kangaroo Island, Xanthorrhoea stumps in sand, mallee heath; Kuitpo Forest, Lofty Ranges, under logs in Eucalyptus leucoxylon-dominated woodland; Wilpena Pound, entrance gorge, heavy red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) woodland, under stones, the three foregoing localities in South Australia. In Victoria, I have collected this ant at Mirranatwa Gap, Grampians Ranges, under rock slabs in dense scrub of Grampians snow gum (Eucalyptus alpina) and at Djerriwarrh Creek, near Melton, in bull mallee scrub (Eucalyptus behriana) under stones. The ecological notes will serve to underline the breadth of the range and habitat tolerance shown by this species.

Heterick (2009) found that this species is confined to the south-western region of Western Australia, where it is mostly encountered as a retiring resident of litter in Banksia and Jarrah-Marri woodlands.

Castes

Nomenclature

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

rufonigra. Euponera (Brachyponera) rufonigra Clark, 1934b: 30, pl. 2, figs. 12, 13 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated), 1 syntype queen.
- Type-localities: Australia: Western Australia, Perth, Armadale, Mundaring, Busselton, and Albany (J. Clark).
- Type-depository: MVMA.
- Combination in Trachymesopus: Brown, 1963: 7;
- combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 309;
- combination in Austroponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 182.
- Status as species: Clark, 1938: 362; Brown, 1952f: 138; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 52; Taylor, 1987a: 80; Bolton, 1995b: 309; Heterick, 2009: 135.
- Senior synonym of clarki: Brown, 1952f: 138; Heterick, 2009: 135 (in text).
- Distribution: Australia.
clarki. Euponera (Trachymesopus) clarki Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 140 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: >6 syntype workers, 1 syntype queen.
- Type-localities: 6 workers Australia: Western Australia, Rottnest I., Serpentine Lake, 23.x.1931, (Harvard Expd.) (P.J. Darlington, I. Dixon, W.M. Wheeler), workers (“a few”), 1 queen Australia: Western Australia, Margaret River (no collector’s name).
- Type-depository: MCZC (perhaps also in WAMP).
- Combination in Trachymesopus: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 52;
- combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 304.
- Status as species: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 52; Taylor, 1987a: 80.
- Junior synonym of rufonigra: Brown, 1952f: 138; Heterick, 2009: 135 (in text).

Type Material

Euponera (Brachyponera) rufonigra: Syntype, worker(s), queen(s), Perth, Armadale, Mundaring, Busselton and Albany, Western Australia, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
Euponera (Trachymesopus) clarki: Syntype, 1 queen, Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Euponera (Trachymesopus) clarki: Syntype, 4 workers, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Euponera (Trachymesopus) clarki: Syntype, 1 worker, near Mud Lake, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.
Euponera (Trachymesopus) clarki: Syntype, worker(s), queen(s), Serpentine Lake, Western Australia, Australia.

Taxonomic Notes

Brown (1952): These two names were applied in part to what seems to be the same nest series, collected by Clark at Armadale, Western Australia. Examination of the types shows clearly that they are synonymous, though this synonymy might not be guessed from the original descriptions, both of which are in error in numerous minor ways. Wheeler's description was stated to have been published on the "5th October, 1934," while the National Museum Memoir No. 8 bears the cover inscription "Issued September, 1934." I have not been able to confirm the latter date, so the seniority of synonymy must remain in some doubt. It is to be regretted that mailing dates of this publication are not more precisely recorded.

Heterick (2009) examined Wheeler's (1934) clarki and Clark's (1934) rufonigra and found that they appear to be no more than colour variations of the same species: clarki has a brown pronotum, but is otherwise indistinguishable from rufonigra, in which the pronotum varies from brownish black to black. He therefore regarded clarki as the junior synonym of rufonigra, a position first proposed for this species by Brown (1952).

Description

References

Brown, W. L., Jr. 1952i. Notes on two well-known Australian ant species. West. Aust. Nat. 3: 137-138.
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1963a. Characters and synonymies among the genera of ants. Part III. Some members of the tribe Ponerini (Ponerinae, Formicidae). Breviora 190: 1-10.
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1995a. [Untitled. Taxonomic changes in Pachycondyla attributed to Brown.] Pp. 302-311 in: Bolton, B. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 309, combination in Pachycondyla)
Clark, J. 1934b. New Australian ants. Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 8: 21-47 (page 30, pl. 2, figs. 12, 13 worker, queen described)
Esteves, F.A., Fisher, B.L. 2021. Corrieopone nouragues gen. nov., sp. nov., a new Ponerinae from French Guiana (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1074, 83–173 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1074.75551).
Heterick, B. E. 2009a. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206.
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).
Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa 3817, 1–242 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1).
Taylor, R.W. & Brown, D.R. 1985. Zoological Catalogue of Australia 2. Hymenoptera: Formicoidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea: 381 pp. Canberra. [(31.xii).1985.]
Wheeler, W. M. 1934d. Contributions to the fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. No. IX. The ants. J. R. Soc. West. Aust. 20: 137-163.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Brown W. L. Jr. 1952. Notes on two well-known Australian ant species. Western Australian Naturalist 3: 137-138.
Clark J. 1934. New Australian ants. Memoirs of the National Museum, Victoria 8: 21-47.
Majer J. D., J. E. Day, E. D. Kabay, and W. S. Perriman. 1984. Recolonization by ants in bauxite mines rehabilited by a number of different methods. Journal of Applied Ecology 21: 355-375.
Majer J. D., and O. G. Nichols. 1998. Long-term recolonization patterns of ants in Western Australian rehabilitated bauxite mines with reference to their use as indicators of restoration success. Journal of Applied Ecology 35: 161-182.
Majer, J.D. and O.G. Nichols. 1998. Long-Term Recolonization Patterns of Ants in Western Australian Rehabilitated Bauxite Mines with Reference to Their Use as Indicators of Restoration Success. Journal of Applied Ecology 35(1):161-182
Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.