Myrmecia froggatti

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Myrmecia froggatti
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmeciinae
Tribe: Myrmeciini
Genus: Myrmecia
Species group: pilosula
Species: M. froggatti
Binomial name
Myrmecia froggatti
Forel, 1910

Myrmecia froggatti casent0907074 p 1 high.jpg

Myrmecia froggatti casent0907074 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Synonyms
At a Glance • Ergatoid queen  

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -17° to -35.68841°.

     
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

Five nests of Myrmecia froggatti were dug out in dry Eucalyptus woodland in Queensland, northern Australia. Nest structure was simple; a single, vertical unbranched shaft that connected 6-12 chambers down to 80-145 cm. Colonies were monogynous and of small size; each contained one ergatoid queen, an average of 38 workers, and several brood (Ito et al. 1994).

Castes

Ergatoid queens had a sperm-filled spermatheca and between 15-18 ovarioles, whereas workers had an empty spermatheca and 4-15 ovarioles. Pronotum width and head width of workers showed isometric growth. However, allometric growth was observed between the width of the pronotum and the width of the fourth segment of the abdomen. Number of ovarioles was positively correlated with abdomen width. Thus, large sized workers have a disproportionally larger number of ovarioles than smaller sized workers, and may have a trophic function (Ito et al. 1994).

Worker and ergatoid queen of M. froggatti. Australian Museum, Sydney; collected in Bogan River, NSW in Feb. 1953. Photograph by Derek Smith

Nomenclature

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

  • froggatti. Myrmecia froggati Forel, 1910b: 9 (w.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
    • Type-material: holotype worker.
    • Type-locality: Australia: New South Wales, Manilla (W.W. Froggatt).
    • Type-depositories: MHNG, MVMA.
    • [Justified emendation of spelling to froggatti: Emery, 1911d: 19.]
    • Clark, 1951: 129 (q.).
    • Combination in M. (Promyrmecia): Emery, 1911d: 19;
    • combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 96;
    • combination in Myrmecia: Brown, 1953j: 17.
    • Subspecies of aberrans: Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 52.
    • Status as species: Emery, 1911d: 19; Clark, 1943: 96 (redescription); Clark, 1951: 128 (redescription); Brown, 1953j: 17; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 10; Taylor, 1987a: 43; Ogata, 1991a: 356; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1632 (in key), 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Senior synonym of eupoecila: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Senior synonym of excavata: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Senior synonym of greavesi: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Senior synonym of sericata: Brown, 1953j: 17; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 10; Taylor, 1987a: 43; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Senior synonym of taylori: Brown, 1953j: 17; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 10; Taylor, 1987a: 43; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
    • Distribution: Australia.
  • eupoecila. Promyrmecia eupoecila Clark, 1943: 98, pl. 12, fig. 8 (q.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
    • Type-material: holotype queen.
    • Type-locality: Australia: South Australia, Adelaide, 25.viii.1927 (R. Blackwood).
    • Type-depository: MVMA.
    • Clark, 1951: 134 (w.).
    • Combination in Myrmecia: Brown, 1953j: 18.
    • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 134 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 9; Taylor, 1987a: 43; Ogata, 1991a: 356.
    • Junior synonym of froggatti: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • excavata. Promyrmecia excavata Clark, 1951: 137, figs. 105, 106 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
    • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers, paratype queens (numbers not stated).
    • Type-locality: holotype Australia: New South Wales, Bundarra (T. Greaves); paratypes with same data.
    • Type-depository: ANIC.
    • Combination in Myrmecia: Brown, 1953j: 18.
    • Status as species: Brown, 1953j: 18; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 9; Taylor, 1987a: 43; Ogata, 1991a: 356.
    • Junior synonym of froggatti: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • greavesi. Promyrmecia greavesi Clark, 1943: 99, pl. 12, fig. 9 (ergatoid q.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
    • Type-material: holotype queen.
    • Type-locality: Australia: N Queensland, Mareeba (T. Greaves).
    • Type-depository: MVMA.
    • Combination in Myrmecia: Brown, 1953j: 18.
    • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 136 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 11; Taylor, 1987a: 43; Ogata, 1991a: 356.
    • Junior synonym of froggatti: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • sericata. Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) aberrans subsp. sericata Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 53 (w.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
    • Type-material: holotype worker.
    • Type-locality: Australia: New South Wales, Wagga (W.W. Froggatt).
    • Type-depository: MCZC.
    • Combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 94.
    • Subspecies of aberrans: Clark, 1943: 94 (redescription);.
    • Subspecies of nobilis: Clark, 1951: 127.
    • Junior synonym of froggatti: Brown, 1953j: 17; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 10; Taylor, 1987a: 43 Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 273.
  • taylori. Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) aberrans subsp. taylori Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 53 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
    • Type-material: holotype worker.
    • Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Roma District (F.H. Taylor).
    • Type-depository: MCZC.
    • Combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 95.
    • Subspecies of aberrans: Clark, 1943: 95 (redescription).
    • Subspecies of nobilis: Clark, 1951: 127.
    • Junior synonym of froggatti: Brown, 1953j: 17; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 10; Taylor, 1987a: 43 Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1643; Bolton, 1995b: 273.

Type Material

Description

References

  • 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 17, Combination in Myrmecia)
  • 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 17, Senior synonym of sericata and taylori)
  • Clark, J. 1943. A revision of the genus Promyrmecia Emery (Formicidae). Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 13: 83-149 (page 96, Combination in Promyrmecia)
  • Clark, J. 1943. A revision of the genus Promyrmecia Emery (Formicidae). Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 13: 83-149 (page 96, Revived status as species)
  • Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
  • Emery, C. 1911e. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125 (page 19, Combination in M. (Promyrmecia))
  • Forel, A. 1910b. Formicides australiens reçus de MM. Froggatt et Rowland Turner. Rev. Suisse Zool. 18: 1-94 (page 9, worker described)
  • 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).
  • Ito, F., Sugiura, N. & Higashi, S. 1994. Worker Polymorphism in the Red-Head Bulldog Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with Description of Nest Structure and Colony Composition. ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 87:337-341
  • Ogata, K.; 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 (page 1643, Senior synonym of eupoecila, excavata and greavesi)
  • Wheeler, W. M. 1933i. Colony founding among ants, with an account of some primitive Australian species. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, viii + 179 pp. (page 52, Subspecies of aberrans)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • 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
  • 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. 
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