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Dolichoderus doriae
| Dolichoderus doriae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Dolichoderus doriae | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Dolichoderinae |
| Tribe: | Dolichoderini |
| Genus: | Dolichoderus |
| Species group: | doriae |
| Species: | D. doriae |
| Binomial name | |
| Dolichoderus doriae Emery, 1887
| |
| At a Glance | • Ergatoid queen |
Dolichoderus doriae occurs in forested areas ranging from dry sclerophyll to wet sclerophyll in eastern New South Wales, the ACT and southern Victoria. Nests are most commonly in soil under and along the edges of stones and branches on the ground or occasionally in rotten wood or in debris at the base of trees. During warmer weather workers and brood commonly form balls on the surface of the ground near nest entrances. Workers forage in trails on the ground and on tree trunks.
This is one of the better studied Australian species of Dolichoderus. These studies include: Forel (1902) (male description), Clark (1934) (queen (ergatoid) description), Wheeler and Wheeler (1966) (larval description), Dazzini Valcurone and Fanfani (1982) (glandular systems) and Fanfani and Dazzini Valcurone (1991) (metapleural gland).
Identification
Pronotum and propodeum with elongate spines; pronotal spines are short and directed anteriorly and approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body, in dorsal view a line drawn between their tips intersects the pronotal collar; first gastral tergite with abundant short erect hairs and gaster with golden pubescence (less obvious in older specimens); propodeal spines and sometimes antennae are lighter in colour than nearby body regions, ranging from dark red to red-brown; legs yellow, strongly contrasting with black body.
This species differs from Dolichoderus extensispinus by having anteriorly directed pronotal spines and from other members of the doriae group (except Dolichoderus clarki) by the abundant short erect hairs on the first gastral tergite. It most closely resembles D. clarki but can be differentiated by the yellow coloured legs, in contrast to the dark legs found in D. clarki.
Identification Keys including this Taxon
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -19.26667023° to -37.88333333°.
| 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. |
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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. |
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There is a single record of this species from Townsville, Queensland, some 1200km north of the main range of this taxon. This collection shows typical morphology for the species and is probably a labelling error as no other records from this northern region are known.
Biology
Castes
Ergatoid queens have evolved in this species (Clark 1934)
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- doriae. Dolichoderus doriae Emery, 1887a: 252 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Forel, 1902h: 461 (m.); Clark, 1934b: 40 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1966: 726 (l.). Combination in D. (Hypoclinea): Emery, 1894c: 228; in D. (Acanthoclinea): Wheeler, W.M. 1935c: 69. See also: Clark, 1930b: 254; Shattuck, 1994: 50.
Type Material
- Syntype, 2 workers, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa.
- Syntype, 1 worker, Mt. Victoria, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, 33°35′0″S 150°15′0″E / 33.583333°S 150.25°E, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
Description
Worker
Shattuck and Marsden (2013) - Sculpturing on mesosoma always present but varying in development from covering the entire surface to more weakly developed and with limited areas of nearly smooth integument (similar to figured individual). Propodeal spines varying in length (sometimes slightly longer than shown) and spread (occasionally much narrower than as figured). Propodeal spines and sometimes antennae lighter in colour than nearby body regions, ranging from dark red to red-brown.
Measurements (n=5). CI 93–98; EI 16–20; EL 0.27–0.31; HL 1.63–1.81; HW 1.55–1.71; ML 2.54–2.76; MTL 1.65–1.83; PronI 67.50–74.11; PronW 1.05–1.20; SI 106–118; SL 1.77–1.91.
Clark (1930) - Black. Mandibles and antennae brown, legs and apex of the spines red.
Shining. Head and thorax irregularly rugose-punctate. Clypeus longitudinally rugose. Antennal fovea striate-reticulate. Node coarsely rugose. Gaster densely and microscopically punctate.
Hair yellow, erect, moderately long and abundant throughout, shorter and suberect on the antennae and legs. Pubescence very fine and adpressed on the antennae, long and abundant on the gaster, where it forms a dense yellowish clothing almost hiding the sculpture.
Head ovate, much broader behind than in front, broadest just behind the eyes, occipital border and sides strongly convex. Frontal carinae erect, diverging outward behind, separated by almost their length. Clypeus convex on top, the anterior border convex, with a slight excision at the middle. Eyes small, globular, placed at the middle of the sides. Scapes of the antennae extending beyond the occipital border by fully one-third of their length; first segment of the funiculus slightly longer than the second, the others subequal. Mandibles armed with eleven teeth. Thorax fully twice as long as broad. Pronotum twice as broad as long, furnished with two long horizontal spines in front, directed forward and very Slightly outward; they are as long as their distance apart at their base. Mesonotum circular, convex above, in profile dome shaped, raised well above the pronotum. Epinotum longer than broad, triangular, furnished with two long, sharp, almost straight, spines directed upward and backward, at an angle of forty-five degrees; in profile the dorsum is straight, the declivity forming a right angle, concave at the bottom. Node scale-like, three times broader than long, concave in front, convex behind; in profile the anterior face straight, the dorsum and posterior face united in a curve. Gaster longer than broad, the anterior border concave below. Legs long and slender.
References
- Clark, J. 1930b. The Australian ants of the genus Dolichoderus (Formicidae). Sugenus Hypoclinea Mayr. Aust. Zool. 6: 252-268 (page 254, see also)
- Clark, J. 1934b. New Australian ants. Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 8: 21-47 (page 40, queen described)
- Emery, C. 1887b [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): 241-256 (page 252, worker described)
- Emery, C. 1894d. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. VI-XVI. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 26: 137-241 (page 228, Combination in D. (Hypoclinea))
- Forel, A. 1902j. Fourmis nouvelles d'Australie. Rev. Suisse Zool. 10: 405-548 (page 462, male described)
- Shattuck, S. O. 1994. Taxonomic catalog of the ant subfamilies Aneuretinae and Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Univ. Calif. Publ. Entomol. 112:i-xix, 1-241. (page 50, see also)
- Shattuck, S.O. & Marsden, S. 2013. Australian species of the ant genus Dolichoderus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3716, 101–143 (doi 10.11646/zootaxa.3716.2.1).
- Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1966. Ant larva of the subfamily Dolichoderinae: supplement. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 59: 726-732 (page 726, larva described)
- Wheeler, W. M. 1935c. Myrmecological notes. Psyche (Camb.) 42: 68-72 (page 69, Combination in D. (Acanthoclinea))
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- 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.
- Forel A. 1913. Fourmis de Tasmanie et d'Australie récoltées par MM. Lae, Froggatt etc. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 49: 173-195
- Shattuck S. O. 1994. Taxonomic catalog of the ant subfamilies Aneuretinae and Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). University of California Publications in Entomology 112: i-xix, 1-241.
- Shattuck S. O., and S. Marsden. 2013. Australian species of the ant genus Dolichoderus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3716(2): 101-143.
- Sinclair J. E., and T. R. New. 2004. Pine plantations in south eastern Australia support highly impoverished ant assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Insect Conservation 8: 277-286.