Nylanderia vaga

Nylanderia vaga
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Lasiini
Genus:	Nylanderia
Species:	N. vaga
Binomial name
Nylanderia vaga (Forel, 1901) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Paratrechina vaga crassipilis Santschi, 1928 Paratrechina vaga irritans Santschi, 1928

At a Glance

• Invasive

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Afrotropical Nylanderia workers
• Key to Micronesian Ants

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -2.599999905° to -33.29372°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island.
Indo-Australian Region: Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), New Guinea, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands.
Neotropical Region: Galapagos Islands.

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

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 mutualist for the aphid Aphis clerodendri (a trophobiont) (Carver et al., 2003; Saddiqui et al., 2019).

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

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0103254. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Worker. Specimen code casent0103255. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

• vaga. Prenolepis obscura r. vaga Forel, 1901b: 26 (w.) NEW GUINEA (Bismarck Archipelago). Donisthorpe, 1948g: 142 (m.). Combination in Pr. (Nylanderia): Emery, 1914f: 422; in Paratrechina (Nylanderia): Emery, 1925b: 221; in Nylanderia: Wheeler, W.M. 1936f: 17; in Paratrechina: Bolton, 1995b: 315; in Nylanderia: LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck, 2010a: 127. Raised to species: Emery, 1914f: 424. Senior synonym of crassipilis, irritans: Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 90.
• crassipilis. Paratrechina (Nylanderia) vaga var. crassipilis Santschi, 1928c: 71 (w.) FIJI IS. Junior synonym of vaga: Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 90.
• irritans. Paratrechina (Nylanderia) vaga var. irritans Santschi, 1928a: 55, figs. 7, 8 (w.m.) SAMOA. Junior synonym of vaga: Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 90.

Type Material

• Prenolepis obscura vaga Forel, 1901: Syntype, 2 workers, Ralum, East New Britian Prov., Papua New Guinea, Australian National Insect Collection.

References

• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 315, Combination in Paratrechina)
• Donisthorpe, H. 1948g. A fourth instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 12(1): 131-143 (page 142, male described)
• Emery, C. 1914f. Les fourmis de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et des îles Loyalty. Nova Caled. A Zool. 1: 393-437 (page 422, Combination in Pr. (Nylanderia))
• Emery, C. 1914f. Les fourmis de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et des îles Loyalty. Nova Caled. A Zool. 1: 393-437 (page 424, Raised to species)
• Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 221, Combination in Paratrechina (Nylanderia))
• Forel, A. 1901b. Formiciden aus dem Bismarck-Archipel, auf Grundlage des von Prof. Dr. F. Dahl gesammelten Materials. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 2: 4-37
• Schifani, E., Csősz, S., Viviano, R., Alicata, A. 2021. Ant diversity on the largest Mediterranean islands: on the presence or absence of 28 species in Sicily (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Natural History Sciences 8, 55–70 (doi:10.4081/nhs.2021.532).
• Wetterer, J.K. 2022. New-world spread of the Old-world Robust Crazy Ant, Nylanderia bourbonica (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology, 69(2), e7343 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v69i2.7343).
• Wheeler, W. M. 1936g. Ants from the Society, Austral, Tuamotu and Mangareva Islands. Occas. Pap. Bernice P. Bishop Mus. 12(1 18: 3-17 (page 17, Combination in Nylanderia)
• Williams, J.L., Zhang, Y.M., LaPolla, J.S., Schultz, T.R., Lucky, A. 2022. Phylogenetic delimitation of morphologically cryptic species in globetrotting Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) species complexes. Insect Systematics and Diversity 6 (1): 10:1-15 (doi:10.1093/isd/iaxb027).
• Williams, J.L., Zhang, Y.M., Lloyd, M.W., LaPolla, J.S., Schultz, T.R., Lucky, A. 2020. Global domination by crazy ants: phylogenomics reveals biogeographical history and invasive species relationships in the genus Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 45, 730–744 (doi:10.1111/syen.12423).
• Wilson, E. O.; Taylor, R. W. 1967b. The ants of Polynesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pac. Insects Monogr. 14: 1-109 (page 90, Senior synonym of crassipilis and irritans)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• CSIRO Collection
• Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
• Dahl F. 1901. Das Leben der Ameisen im Bismarck-Archipel, nach eigenen Beobachtungen vergleichend dargestellt. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 2: 1-70.
• Donisthorpe H. 1948. A fourth instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (12)1: 131-143.
• Donisthorpe H. 1948. A second instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (11)14: 297-317.
• Donisthorpe H. 1949. A sixth instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (12)1: 744-759.
• Donisthorpe H. 1950. An eighth instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (12)3: 338-341.
• Donisthorpe, Horace. 1941. The Ants of Norfolk Island. The Entomologist Monthly Magazine. 77:90-93.
• Emery, C. 1914. Les fourmis de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et des îles Loyalty. Nova Caledonia. A. Zoologie 1:393-437.
• Forel A. 1901. Formiciden aus dem Bismarck-Archipel, auf Grundlage des von Prof. Dr. F. Dahl gesammelten Materials. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 2: 4-37.
• Janda M., G. D. Alpert, M. L. Borowiec, E. P. Economo, P. Klimes, E. Sarnat, and S. O. Shattuck. 2011. Cheklist of ants described and recorded from New Guinea and associated islands. Available on http://www.newguineants.org/. Accessed on 24th Feb. 2011.
• Klimes P., M. Janda, S. Ibalim, J. Kua, and V. Novotny. 2011. Experimental suppression of ants foraging on rainforest vegetation in New Guinea: testing methods for a whole-forest manipulation of insect communities. Ecological Entomology 36: 94-103.
• Smithers C. N. 1998. A species list and bibliography of the insects recorded from Norfolk Island. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 13: 1–55.
• 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.
• Viehmeyer H. 1912. Ameisen aus Deutsch Neuguinea gesammelt von Dr. O. Schlaginhaufen. Nebst einem Verzeichnisse der papuanischen Arten. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königlichen Zoologischen und Anthropologische-Ethnographischen Museums zu Dresden 14: 1-26.
• Wheeler W.M. 1935. Check list of the ants of Oceania. Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum 11(11):1-56.
• Wheeler WM. 1927. Ants of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 62.4: 120-153.
• Wheeler, William Morton. 1927. The Ants of Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 62(4): 121-153
• Wheeler, William Morton.1935.Checklist of the Ants of Oceania.Occasional Papers 11(11): 3-56