Iridomyrmex mattiroloi

Iridomyrmex mattiroloi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Tribe:	Leptomyrmecini
Genus:	Iridomyrmex
Species:	I. mattiroloi
Binomial name
Iridomyrmex mattiroloi Emery, 1898

Iridomyrmex mattiroloi, a Tasmanian endemic, is known to nest under rocks. Most collections have been made sweeping low vegetation (including Leptospermum, Euchryphia and Allocasuarina) and by pitfall trapping.

Identification

This species is very similar to Iridomyrmex splendens, but can be distinguished from that species by its much shorter antennal scape and more truncate propodeum. Iridomyrmex meridianus is another, similar species that also occurs in Tasmania. However, I. meridianus has a glabrous or nearly glabrous mesosoma, whereas I. mattiroloi possesses numerous bristly, erect, mesosomal setae.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Iridomyrmex species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -40.93333° to -42.98333333°.

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.

Nomenclature

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

• mattiroloi. Iridomyrmex mattiroloi Emery, 1898b: 236, fig. 8 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Tasmania). Crozier, 1969: 249 (k.). See also: Heterick & Shattuck, 2011: 100.

Type Material

• Syntype, 1 worker, Tasmania, Australia, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa; (this is probably a holotype).

Description

Worker Description. Head. Posterior margin of head strongly concave; erect setae on posterior margin on posterior margin in full-face view set in a row; sides of head noticeably convex; erect genal setae absent from sides of head in full-face view (one to a few small setae may be present near mandibular insertion). Ocelli absent; in full- face view, eyes set at about midpoint of head capsule; in profile, eye set anteriad of head capsule; eye asymmetrical, curvature of inner eye margin more pronounced than that of its outer margin. Frontal carinae convex; antennal scape barely attaining posterior margin of head, or surpassing it by less than 1 x its diameter. Erect setae on scape absent, except at tip; prominence on anteromedial clypeal margin present as an indistinct swelling or undulation; mandible regularly triangular with oblique basal margin; long, curved setae on venter of head capsule absent. Mesosoma. Pronotum moderately and evenly curved over its length. Erect pronotal setae moderate in number (6– 12), short and bristly. Mesonotum evenly curved. Erect mesonotal setae moderate in number (6– 12), short and bristly. Mesothoracic spiracles always inconspicuous; propodeal dorsum smoothly and evenly convex, or straight and short (equal in length to propodeal declivity); placement of propodeal spiracle posteriad and near propodeal declivity; propodeal angle present as a bluntly defined right angle, the dorsal and declivitous propodeal faces never separated by a carina, or weakly present or absent, the confluence of the dorsal and declivitous propodeal faces indicated, if at all, by an undulation. Erect propodeal setae numerous (12 or more), short and bristly. Petiole. Dorsum of node convex; node thin, scale-like, orientation more-or-less vertical. Gaster. Non-marginal erect setae of gaster present on first gastral tergite; marginal erect setae of gaster present on first tergite. General characters. Allometric differences between workers of same nest absent. Colour brown to reddish-black, with faint blue iridescence on gaster. Colour of erect setae pale yellowish to whitish.

Measurements. Worker (n = 4)—CI 86–89; EI 26–27; EL 0.18–0.20; EW 0.14–0.15; HFL 0.83–0.87; HL 0.80–0.84; HW 0.69–0.75; ML 0.93–1.03; MTL 0.60–0.63; PpH 0.15–0.16; PpL 0.41–0.45; SI 89–96; SL 0.66– 0.69.

Karyotype

• See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.

 Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

• n = 9, 2n = 18 (Australia) (Crozier, 1968a).

References

• Crozier, R. H. 1969a [1968]. Cytotaxonomic studies on some Australian dolichoderine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Caryologia 21: 241-259 (page 249, karyotype described)
• Emery, C. 1898b. Descrizioni di formiche nuove malesi e australiane. Note sinonimiche. Rend. Sess. R. Accad. Sci. Ist. Bologna (n.s.) 2: 231-245 (page 236, fig. 8 worker described)
• Heterick, B.E. & Shattuck, S.O. 2011. Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 2845: 1-175.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• CSIRO Collection
• Emery C. 1898. Descrizioni di formiche nuove malesi e australiane. Note sinonimiche. Rendiconti delle Sessioni della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna (n.s.)2: 231-245.
• Emery C. 1913. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Dolichoderinae. Genera Insectorum 137: 1-50.
• Heterick B. E., and S. Shattuck. 2011. Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 2845: 1-174.
• Heterick, B., and S. O. Shattuck. "Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Zootaxa 2845 (2011): 1-174.
• 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.
• 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.
• Taylor R. W., and D. R. Brown. 1985. Formicoidea. Zoological Catalogue of Australia 2: 1-149.