Podomyrma chasei

Podomyrma chasei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Podomyrma
Species group:	adelaidae
Species:	P. chasei
Binomial name
	Podomyrma chasei; Forel, 1901 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Podomyrma nuda Crawley, 1922;

Photo Gallery

Podomyrma chasei is arboreal and nests in tree holes, existing tunnels in wood or in the bark layers at the bases of trees. Workers can often be found foraging on the trunks of trees. Flynn, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 9 April 2011.
Podomyrma chasei, Flynn, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 9 April 2011.
Podomyrma chasei, Flynn, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 9 April 2011.

Identification

Heterick (2009) – Podomyrma chasei resembles Podomyrma adelaidae but lacks the pair of white maculae. The propodeum is unarmed.

Keys including this Species

Key to Podomyrma of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -32.15° to -32.15°.


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


Paratype of Podomyrma nuda. Worker. Specimen code casent0901999. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.


Worker. Specimen code casent0906193. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

chasei. Podomyrma chasei Forel, 1901h: 58 (w.m.) AUSTRALIA. Senior synonym of nuda: Taylor, 1999: 173.
nuda. Podomyrma nuda Crawley, 1922b: 441, fig. 7 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Crawley, 1925b: 591 (q.). Junior synonym of chasei: Taylor, 1999: 173.

Type Material

Podomyrma chasei: Syntype, 1 worker, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
Podomyrma chasei: Syntype, worker(s), male(s), Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
Podomyrma nuda Crawley, 1922: Holotype, worker, Murray River, Western Australia, Australia, Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Podomyrma nuda Crawley, 1922: Paratype, 4 workers, 1 queen (may not be true types), Vasse River, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Queen

Crawley (1925) - Length 10 mm.

Colour similar to that of the worker, but paler; head, pronotum, petiole, and sides of thorax castaneous; mandibles, antellnm, legs, and rest of dorsum of thorax dark brown; gaster nearly black. Wings tinted with yellow, nervures brown.

Pilosity rather more abundant and finer.

Head large, 2.2 broad by 2.5 mm. long, as broad in front as behind, sides almost parallel, slightly contracted in the middle at the eyes. Occipital angles rounded, the border concave. The surface of the head is excavate between the end of the frontal carinae and the eyes, thus forming more of a scrobe than in the worker.

Thorax considerably narrower than the head, the anterior angles less acutely dentate than in the worker. Petiole somewhat longer in proportion, and no tooth, only an angle, at the top.

Shining; sculpture of head siniilar but coarser than in the worker. Pronotum transversely reticulate-rugose, more reticulate at the angles. Scutum longitudinally striate, postscutellurn shining, superficially longitudinally striate with a few punctures. Base of epinotum, transversely striate, declivity smooth and shining. Pleurae longitudinally striate. Petiole smoother, otherwise as in the worker. Postpetiole and gaster similar.

References

Forel, A. 1901m. Formiciden des Naturhistorischen Museums zu Hamburg. Neue Calyptomyrmex-, Dacryon-, Podomyrma- und Echinopla-Arten. Mitt. Naturhist. Mus. Hambg. 18: 43-82 (page 58, worker, male described)
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).
Taylor, R. W. 1999. Nomenclatural changes in the Australasian ant genus Podomyrma Fredrick Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Sociobiology 34: 173-174 (page 173, Senior synonym of nuda)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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.