Myrmecia mandibularis

Myrmecia mandibularis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species group:	mandibularis
Species:	M. mandibularis
Binomial name
	Myrmecia mandibularis; Smith, F., 1858 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Myrmecia fulvipes coelatinoda Wheeler, W.M., 1933; Myrmecia mandibularis aureorufa Forel, 1910; Myrmecia mandibularis postpetiolaris Wheeler, W.M., 1933; Promyrmecia laevinodis Clark, 1943;

Myrmecia mandibularis, the only species in the SWBP of the species-group that bears its name, is a common and very conspicuous member of the Darling Range ant fauna, but can be found from south-western WA to Victoria. (Heterick 2009)

Photo Gallery

This Myrmecia mandibularis worker was found on the summit of Bluff Knoll, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari.

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -30.14305° to -38.15000153°.


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.

Biology

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb


Syntype of MyrmeciaÂ mandibularis aureorufa. Worker. Specimen code casent0907099. 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.

mandibularis. Myrmecia mandibularis Smith, F. 1858b: 145 (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
- Type-material: holotype worker.
- Type-locality: Australia: South Australia, Adelaide, “53/56”.
- Type-depository: BMNH.
- Clark, 1943: 138 (q.m.).
- Combination in M. (Pristomyrmecia): Emery, 1911d: 21;
- combination in M. (Promyrmecia): Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 64;
- combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 137;
- combination in Myrmecia: Brown, 1953j: 4.
- Status as species: Roger, 1861a: 36; Mayr, 1862: 727 (in key); Roger, 1863b: 23; Mayr, 1863: 430; Dalla Torre, 1893: 20; Emery, 1911d: 21; Crawley, 1926: 385 (redescription); Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 64; Clark, 1943: 137 (redescription); Clark, 1951: 151 (redescription); Brown, 1953j: 4; Kugler, C. 1980b: 265; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata, 1991a: 359; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1639 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 272; Heterick, 2009: 123.
- Senior synonym of aureorufa: Clark, 1943: 137; Clark, 1951: 151; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
- Senior synonym of caelatinoda: Brown, 1953j: 4; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
- Senior synonym of laevinodis: Brown, 1953j: 4; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
- Senior synonym of postpetiolaris: Clark, 1943: 137; Clark, 1951: 151; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
- Distribution: Australia.
aureorufa. Myrmecia mandibularis subsp. aureorufa Forel, 1910b: 6 (w.) AUSTRALIA (no state data).
- Type-material: holotype worker.
- Type-locality: Australia: (no further data).
- Type-depository: MHNG.
- [Misspelled as aerorufa by Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630.]
- Subspecies of mandibularis: Emery, 1911d: 21; Santschi, 1928e: 465.
- Junior synonym of mandibularis: Clark, 1943: 137; Clark, 1951: 151; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 270.
caelatinoda. Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) fulvipes subsp. caelatinoda Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 72 (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
- Type-material: holotype worker.
- Type-locality: Australia: South Australia, Belair (J.W. Haacke).
- [Note: holotype lost: Brown, 1953j: 4, Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12.]
- Type-depository: MCZC.
- [Misspelled as coelatinoda by Clark, 1934: 147; Brown, 1953j: 4.]
- Combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 147.
- Subspecies of fulvipes: Clark, 1943: 147; Clark, 1951: 167.
- Junior synonym of mandibularis: Brown, 1953j: 4; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
laevinodis. Promyrmecia laevinodis Clark, 1943: 139, pl. 17, figs. 94, 95 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria).
- Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queens (numbers not stated).
- Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Armadale (J. Clark) (by restriction of Clark, 1951: 155); non-type locality syntypes Western Australia, Albany (J. Clark), Western Australia, Bunbury (J. Clark), South Australia, Lucindale (A.M. Lea), South Australia, Melrose (A.M. Lea), South Australia, Kangaroo I. (A. Campbell), Victoria, Mallee (J.E. Dixon).
- Type-depository: MVMA.
- Status as species: Clark, 1951: 154 (redescription).
- Junior synonym of mandibularis: Brown, 1953j: 4; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
postpetiolaris. Myrmecia mandibularis subsp. postpetiolaris Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 65 (w.m.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria).
- Type-material: syntype workers, syntype males (numbers not stated).
- Type-localities: Australia: South Australia, Mt Lofty, Victoria, Ballarat, Western Australia, Warren River.
- Type-depository: MCZC.
- Junior synonym of mandibularis: Clark, 1943: 137; Clark, 1951: 151; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 12; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1630; Bolton, 1995b: 273.

Type Material

Myrmecia mandibularis: Holotype, worker, Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
Myrmecia mandibularis: Syntype, worker(s), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, The Natural History Museum.
Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) fulvipes caelatinoda: Holotype, unknown (apparently lost), Belair, South Australia, Australia.
Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) mandibularis postpetiolaris: Syntype, 2 workers (1 missing head), Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) mandibularis postpetiolaris: Syntype, worker(s), male(s), Mt. Lofty, South Australia; Ballarat, Victoria; Warren River, Western Australia, Australia.
Promyrmecia laevinodis: Syntype, worker(s), queen(s), Armadale, Albany, and Bunbury, WA, Lucindale, Melrose and Kangaroo Island, SA and Mallee, VIC, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.

Description

Karyotype

n = 28, 2n = 56 (Australia) (Hirai et al., 1996).
n = 27, 2n = 56 (Australia) (Hirai et al., 1996).

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 4, Combination in Myrmecia, Senior synonym of coelatinoda and laevinodis)
Clark, J. 1943. A revision of the genus Promyrmecia Emery (Formicidae). Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 13: 83-149 (page 138, queen, male described; page 137, Combination in Promyrmecia, Senior synonym of aureorufa and postpetiolaris)
Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
Crawley, W. C. 1926. A revision of some old types of Formicidae. Trans. Entomol. Soc. Lond. 1925: 373-393 (page 385, see also)
Emery, C. 1911e. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125 (page 21, Combination in M. (Pristomyrmecia))
Heterick, B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76:1-206.
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).
Heterick, B.E. 2022. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part II: Distribution and biology. Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement 86: 247-510 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2022.247-510).
Mera-Rodríguez, D., Jourdan, H., Ward, P.S., Shattuck, S., Cover, S.P., Wilson, E.O., Rabeling, C. 2023. Biogeography and evolution of social parasitism in Australian Myrmecia bulldog ants revealed by phylogenomics. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 186, 107825 (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107825).
Ogata, K. 1991a. Ants of the genus Myrmecia Fabricius: a review of the species groups and their phylogenetic relationships (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae). Syst. Entomol. 16: 353-381 (page 359, see also)
Smith, F. 1858b. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part VI. Formicidae. London: British Museum, 216 pp. (page 145, worker described)
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 64, Combination in M. (Promyrmecia))

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.

Emery C. 1911. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125.
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.