Myrmecia tarsata

Myrmecia tarsata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species group:	gulosa
Species:	M. tarsata
Binomial name
Myrmecia tarsata Smith, F., 1858 Specimen labels

At a Glance

• Brachypterous Queen  • Ergatoid queen

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Myrmecia Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -27.46667° to -37.56666667°.

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

An incomplete colony excavated in 2007 (30km west of Dorrigo NSW) yielded over 500 workers, 160 cocoons and 173 larvae (C. Peeters unpublished data). Two cocoons contained partly-pigmented pupae of brachypterous queens, while other cocoons contained males.

Association with Other Organisms

 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 eucharitid wasp Austeucharis sp. (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (multiple encounter modes; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

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.

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

Castes

McAreavey (1948) and Clark (1951, p. 28-31) described dimorphic flightless queens: ergatoid (permanently wingless) and brachypterous (short, non-functional wings).

Brachypterous queens generally retain unfused flight sclerites in the thorax. The short wings are often broken within hours of emergence, and wing scars give the impression of a queen capable of flight.

Dealate brachypterous queen of M. tarsata. Australian Museum, Sydney; collected in Lane Cove River, Sydney, NSW on 16 Feb. 1924 (accession K.49156). Photograph by Derek Smith

Australian Museum, Sydney; collected in Lane Cove River, Sydney, NSW on 16 Feb. 1924 (accession K.49156). Photograph by Derek Smith

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.

• tarsata. Myrmecia tarsata Smith, F. 1858b: 145 (w.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
  • Type-material: holotype worker.
  • Type-locality: Australia: New South Wales, NH Hunter River, “44/105”.
  • Type-depository: BMNH.
  • Roger, 1861a: 33 (q.); Clark, 1951: 30 (brachypterous q. ergatoid q. m.).
  • Status as species: Roger, 1861a: 33; Mayr, 1862: 726 (in key); Roger, 1863b: 22; Mayr, 1863: 430; Mayr, 1865: 85; Lowne, 1865b: 336; Mayr, 1876: 96; Dalla Torre, 1893: 22; Forel, 1907e: 20; Forel, 1910b: 4; Emery, 1911d: 20; Crawley, 1926: 379 (redescription); Clark, 1927: 34; Clark, 1929: 121; Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 45; Clark, 1951: 28 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 16; Taylor, 1987a: 46; Ogata, 1991a: 358; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1635 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 273.
  • Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

• Syntype, worker(s), Australia (Hunter River, etc), Australia, The Natural History Museum.

The following notes on F. Smith type specimens have been provided by Barry Bolton (details):

Holotype worker in The Natural History Museum. Labelled “N.H. Hunter R. 44/105” and with a det. label “tarsata Type Smith.” Specimen is very large, with swollen gaster.

References

• Cantone S. 2017. Winged Ants, The Male, Dichotomous key to genera of winged male ants in the World, Behavioral ecology of mating flight (self-published).
• Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
• Clark, J. 1927. The ants of Victoria. Part III. Vic. Nat. (Melb.) 44: 33-40 (page 34, see also)
• 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 379, see also)
• Dahbi, A., Lenoir, A. 1998. Queen and colony odour in the multiple nest ant species, Cataglyphis iberica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 45, 301–313 (doi:10.1007/s000400050090).
• Greiner, B., Narendra, A., Reid, S.F., Dacke, M., Ribi, W.A., Zeil, J. 2007. Eye structure correlates with distinct foraging-bout timing in primitive ants. Current Biology 17(20): R879-880.
• McAreavey, J. 1948. Some observations on Myrmecia tarsata Smith. Proc. Linn. Soc. NSW. 73: 137 – 141.
• 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).
• Narendra, A., Reid, S.F., Greiner, B., Peters, R.A., Hemmi, J.M., Ribi, W.A., Zeil, J. 2010. Caste-specific visual adaptations to distinct daily activity schedules in Australian Myrmecia ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278, 1141–1149 (doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1378).
• Palavalli-Nettimi, R., Ogawa, Y., Ryan, L.A., Hart, N.S., Narendra, A. 2019. Miniaturisation reduces contrast sensitivity and spatial resolving power in ants. Journal of Experimental Biology, jeb.203018 (doi:10.1242/jeb.203018).
• Roger, J. 1861a. Die Ponera-artigen Ameisen (Schluss). Berl. Entomol. Z. 5: 1-54 (page 33, queen described)
• 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)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Clark J. 1927. The ants of Victoria. Part III. Victorian Naturalist (Melbourne) 44: 33-40.
• 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.