Myrmecia desertorum

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Myrmecia desertorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmeciinae
Tribe: Myrmeciini
Genus: Myrmecia
Species group: gulosa
Species: M. desertorum
Binomial name
Myrmecia desertorum
Wheeler, W.M., 1915

Myrmecia desertorum casent0912436 p 1 high.jpg

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Specimen Labels

Synonyms

Heterick (2009) - These ants are visual predators. Typical encounters with even a solitary forager shows that they are a formidable and aggressive species. Nest workers are also always ready to rush out of their mound to attack an intruder. Myrmecia desertorum is possibly the most common bulldog ant in the SWBP. Their nest mounds may be huge, up to 2 m in diameter (Ogata and Taylor 1991).


Photo Gallery

  • Worker from Uluru, Northern Territory. Photo by Steve Shattuck.
  • Queen from South Australia. Photo by Mark Newton.
  • Queen from South Australia. Photo by Mark Newton.
  • Queen from South Australia. Photo by Mark Newton.
  • Myrmecia desertorum from Wandoo National Park, Flynn, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 4 June 2011.

Identification

Myrmecia desertorum, Myrmecia fuscipes, Myrmecia gratiosa, Myrmecia nigriceps and Myrmecia vindex are all large to very large, reddish ants with red, brown or black heads and a black gaster.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -14.8° to -35.08332825°.

     
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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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Biology

Workers forage during the day, making them an obvious component of the Australian Arid Zone. As with all species of Myrmecia, these are highly visual and aggressive ants, detecting intruders and threats from some distance away, turning towards them and either attaching or retreating, depending primarily on the proximity to the nest (the closer the nest the more aggressive these ants are).

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • This species is a host for the cricket Myrmecophilus testaceus (a myrmecophile) in Australia.

Castes

Phylogeny

Myrmecia
gulosa group

Myrmecia esuriens

Myrmecia midas

Myrmecia pulchra

Myrmecia mjobergi

Myrmecia regularis

Myrmecia forficata

Myrmecia brevinoda

Myrmecia erecta

Myrmecia pyriformis

Myrmecia browningi

Myrmecia sp.

Myrmecia analis

Myrmecia minuscula

Myrmecia comata

Myrmecia rowlandi

Myrmecia flavicoma

Myrmecia tarsata

Myrmecia tridentata

Myrmecia eungellensis

Myrmecia fabricii

Myrmecia athertonensis

Myrmecia auriventris

Myrmecia borealis

Myrmecia gulosa

Myrmecia forceps

Myrmecia simillima

Myrmecia arnoldi

Myrmecia fulgida

Myrmecia pavida

Myrmecia vindex

Myrmecia fuscipes

Myrmecia (near nigriceps)

Myrmecia desertorum

Myrmecia nigriceps

Myrmecia nigriceps

Myrmecia inquilina

nigrocincta group

Myrmecia flammicollis

Myrmecia petiolata

Myrmecia nigrocincta

picta group

Myrmecia fucosa

Myrmecia picta

Myrmecia infima

Myrmecia urens

apicalis group

Myrmecia apicalis

pilosula group

Myrmecia testaceipes

Myrmecia acuta

Myrmecia chasei

Myrmecia clarki

Myrmecia dispar

Myrmecia occidentalis

Myrmecia tepperi

Myrmecia elegans

Myrmecia varians

Myrmecia banksi

Myrmecia croslandi

Myrmecia impaternata

Myrmecia haskinsorum

Myrmecia pilosula

Myrmecia pilosula

Myrmecia (near pilosula)

Based on Mera-Rodríguez et al. (2023).

Nomenclature

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

  • desertorum. Myrmecia vindex var. desertorum Wheeler, W.M. 1915g: 805 (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
    • Type-material: 4 syntype workers.
    • Type-locality: Australia: South Australia, Todmorden (W.M. Wheeler).
    • Type-depository: MCZC.
    • Clark, 1925b: 144 (q.m.).
    • Subspecies of vindex: Clark, 1925b: 143.
    • Status as species: Clark, 1928c: 39; Clark, 1930c: 22; Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 40; Clark, 1951: 59 (redescription); Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata, 1991a: 358; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1637 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 271; Heterick, 2009: 121.
    • Senior synonym of lutea: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Senior synonym of princeps: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Distribution: Australia.
  • lutea. Myrmecia lutea Crawley, 1922b: 429 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Ludlow, nos 2, 5 (J. Clark).
    • Type-depository: NHMB, OXUM.
    • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 61.
    • Junior synonym of desertorum: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
  • princeps. Myrmecia princeps Clark, 1951: 46, fig. 24 (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
    • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: holotype Australia: South Australia, Tarcoola (K. Millar); paratypes with same data.
    • Type-depository: ANIC.
    • Junior synonym of desertorum: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 273.

Type Material

Description

References

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.
  • Clark J. 1925. The ants of Victoria. Part II. Victorian Naturalist (Melbourne) 42: 135-144.
  • Gunawardene N.R. and J.D. Majer. 2004. Ants of the southern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: an investigation into patterns of association. Records of the Western Australian Museum 22: 219-239.
  • Heterick B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 76: 1-206. 
  • 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.