Myrmecia brevinoda

Myrmecia brevinoda
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species:	M. brevinoda
Binomial name
Myrmecia brevinoda Forel, 1910 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Myrmecia decipians Clark, 1951 Myrmecia forficata eudoxia Forel, 1915 Myrmecia longinodis Clark, 1951 Myrmecia pyriformis gigas Forel, 1913

At a Glance

• Ergatoid queen  • Limited invasive

 

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Myrmecia Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -15.83333015° to -39°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality), New Zealand.

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

Myrmecia brevinoda, one of the largest ants, together with one of the smallest, Carebara atoma, photographed using an electron microscope (both from northern Queensland, Australia). One of the reasons ants are so successful is because of their great morphological diversity. This diversity also extends to their life history and ecology.

Nesting Habits

A large nest of Myrmecia brevinoda (with a mound 70cm tall) in north Queensland contained 2576 workers and 1 queen (Higashi & Peeters 1990). Other small ants, termites and various insect larvae were also found in uninhabited parts of the mound. Although workers exhibit considerable size variation (length: 13-36 mm), relative growth (head length versus head width) among workers is not allometric. Thus workers are monomorphic although they fall into 2 obvious size classes which overlap broadly. Small workers were abundant in the lower parts of the nest while larger workers prevailed in the upper parts. Field observations confirmed the occurrence of size polyethism, i.e. larger workers were engaged in hunting, defence and extranidal building, while smaller workers excavated soil from inside the nest.

Another nest identified as M. brevinoda from the vicinity of Armidale (northern NSW) lacked any conspicuous mound. Over 1200 workers were collected together with cocoons enclosing winged queens (C. Peeters unpubl.).

See Nests.

Mound (70 cm-high) built with Casuarina pine needles. From Paluma, north Queensland. Photo by Christian Peeters.

Flight Period

		X
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: antkeeping.info.

• Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.

Castes

Clark (1951) described both winged and ergatoid queens in this species, together with size-polymorphic workers.

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Myrmecia pyriformis gigas. Worker. Specimen code casent0907092. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

• brevinoda. Myrmecia forficata var. brevinoda Forel, 1910b: 2 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated), 1 syntype queen.
  • Type-localities: Australia: New South Wales, Walcha (W.W. Froggatt), Victoria, Gisborne (W.W. Froggatt).
  • Type-depositories: ANIC, MCZC, MHNG, NHMB.
  • [Misspelled as brevinodis by Baroni Urbani, 1973b: 125.]
  • Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1971d: 247 (l.); Imai, Crozier & Taylor, 1977: 345 (k.).
  • Subspecies of forficata: Emery, 1911d: 20; Clark, 1927: 36.
  • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 96 (redescription); Brown, 1953j: 22; Brown, 1958h: 10; Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 102; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 6; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata, 1991a: 358; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1635 (in key), 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 270; Don, 2007: 185.
  • Senior synonym of decipians: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 270.
  • Senior synonym of eudoxia: Brown, 1953j: 22; Brown, 1958h: 10; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 270.
  • Senior synonym of gigas: Brown, 1953j: 22; Brown, 1958h: 10; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 270.
  • Senior synonym of longinodis: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 270.
  • Distribution: Australia.
• decipians. Myrmecia decipians Clark, 1951: 86, fig. 66 (w.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
  • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: holotype Australia: New South Wales, Quirindi (C.V. Morisett); paratypes with same data.
  • Type-depository: ANIC.
  • Status as species: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata, 1991a: 358.
  • Junior synonym of brevinoda: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
• eudoxia. Myrmecia forficata var. eudoxia Forel, 1915b: 8 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Atherton (E. Mjöberg).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 35.
  • Junior synonym of gigas: Clark, 1951: 104.
  • Junior synonym of brevinoda: Brown, 1953j: 22; Brown, 1958h: 10; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 270.
• gigas. Myrmecia pyriformis r. gigas Forel, 1913b: 310 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Queensland (no collector’s name).
  • Type-depositories: MHNG, MRHN.
  • Forel, 1915: 7 (w.); Clark, 1951: 107 (ergatoid q. m.).
  • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 104 (redescription).
  • Junior synonym of brevinoda: Brown, 1953j: 22; Brown, 1958h: 10; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 7; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
• longinodis. Myrmecia longinodis Clark, 1951: 87, fig. 67 (w.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
  • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: holotype Australia: New South Wales, Kiama (F.A. Cudmore); paratypes with same data.
  • Type-depository: ANIC.
  • Status as species: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata, 1991a: 358.
  • Junior synonym of brevinoda: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653; Bolton, 1995b: 272.

Type Material

• Myrmecia decipians: Holotype, worker, Quirindi, New South Wales, Australia, Morissett,C.V., ANIC32-011477, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia decipians: Paratype, 4 workers, Quirindi, New South Wales, Australia, Morissett,C.V., ANIC32-011475, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia decipians: Paratype, 2 workers, Quirindi, New South Wales, Australia, Morissett,C.V., ANIC32-011476, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia forficata brevinoda: Syntype, 1 worker, Walcha (as Walcher), New South Wales, Australia, Froggatt,W.W., ANIC32-006011, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia forficata brevinoda: Syntype, worker(s), queen(s), Gisborne, Victoria, Australia.
• Myrmecia forficata eudoxia: Syntype, worker(s), Atherton, Queensland, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
• Myrmecia longinodis: Holotype, worker, Kiama, New South Wales, Australia, Cudmore,F.A., ANIC32-015321, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia longinodis: Paratype, 5 workers, Kiama, New South Wales, Australia, Cudmore,F.A., ANIC32-006084, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia longinodis: Paratype, 1 worker, Kiama, New South Wales, Australia, Cudmore,F.A., ANIC32-006503, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia pyriformis gigas: Syntype, worker, Queensland, Australia, IRSNB (Brussels).

Description

Karyotype

• 2n = 84 (Australia) (Imai et al., 1977).

References

• Als, V., Narendra, A., Arthofer, W., Krapf, P., Steiner, F.M., Schlick-Steiner, B.C. 2021. Colony structure, population structure, and sharing of foraging trees in the ant Myrmecia nigriceps (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 68, 327–335 (doi:10.1007/s00040-021-00831-7).
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1953j. Revisionary notes on the ant genus Myrmecia of Australia. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology

111: 1-35 (page 22, senior synonym of gigas (and its junior synonym eudoxia))

• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1958h. A review of the ants of New Zealand. Acta Hymenopterol. 1: 1-50 (page 10, see also)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
• Forel, A. 1910b. Formicides australiens reçus de MM. Froggatt et Rowland Turner. Rev. Suisse Zool. 18: 1-94 (page 2, worker, queen described)
• Higashi, S. & Peeters, C. 1990. Worker polymorphism and nest structure in Myrmecia brevinoda Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Aust. ent. Soc. 29: 327-331.
• Imai, H. T.; Crozier, R. H.; Taylor, R. W. 1977. Karyotype evolution in Australian ants. Chromosoma (Berl.) 59: 341-393 (page 345, karyotype described)
• Ogata, K.; Taylor, R. W. 1991. Ants of the genus Myrmecia Fabricius: a preliminary review and key to the named species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae). J. Nat. Hist. 2 25: 1623-1673 (page 1653, senior synonym of decipians and longinodis)
• Qian, Z.-Q.; Ceccarelli, F. S.; Carew, M. E.; Schlüns, H.; Schlick-Steiner, B. C.; Steiner, F. M. 2011. Characterization of polymorphic microsatellites in the giant bulldog ant, Myrmecia brevinoda and the jumper ant, M. pilosula. Journal of Insect Science (available online: insectscience.org/11.71) 11:Article 71.
• Qian, Zeng-qiang, Schlüns, Helge, Schlick-Steiner, Birgit C., Steiner, Florian M., Robson, Simon K.A., Schlüns, Ellen A., and Crozier, Ross H. (2011) Intraspecific support for the polygyny-vs.-polyandry hypothesis in the bulldog ant Myrmecia brevinoda. Molecular Ecology, 20 (17), 3681-3691.
• Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1971d. Ant larvae of the subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pan-Pac. Entomol. 47: 245-256 (page 247, larva described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Brown W. L., Jr. 1953. Revisionary notes on the ant genus Myrmecia of Australia. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology

111: 1-35.

• CSIRO Collection
• Forel A. 1910. Formicides australiens reçus de MM. Froggatt et Rowland Turner. Rev. Suisse Zool. 18: 1-94
• Ogata K. and Taylor R.W. 1991. Ants of the genus Myrmecia Fabricius: a preliminary review and key to the named species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae), Journal of Natural History, 25: 1623-1673
• Schnell M. R., A. J. Pik, and J. M. Dangerfield. 2003. Ant community succession within eucalypt plantations on used pasture and implications for taxonomic sufficiency in biomonitoring. Austral Ecology 28: 553–565.
• 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.