Polyrhachis fruhstorferi

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Polyrhachis fruhstorferi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Polyrhachis
Subgenus: Myrmatopa
Species group: flavicornis
Species: P. fruhstorferi
Binomial name
Polyrhachis fruhstorferi
Emery, 1898

Polyrhachis fruhstorferi casent0905563 p 1 high.jpg

Polyrhachis fruhstorferi casent0905563 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Subspecies

Specimens have been collected from fogging samples in natural and agriculturally utilized forests from 200 - 1100 m.

Identification

A member of the Polyrhachis flavicornis species group.

Kohout (2008) - Polyrhachis fruhstorferi is similar to Polyrhachis varicolor. The sculpturation in both species consists of reticulate-punctation, however, it is distinctly finer in P. varicolor. The petiolar spines in P. varicolor are longer and more slender, while in P. fruhstorferi they are rather stubby. The colour of the body in P. fruhstorferi is mostly black, with only the legs and gaster very dark reddish-brown. In contrast, the body of P. varicolor, including the antennae and legs, is distinctly orange or light reddish-brown with the tarsi, gaster and apices of the petiolar spines darker reddish-brown and the frontal carinae and lateral margins of mesosoma narrowly lined with dark brown.

Polyrhachis fruhstorferi bears a close resemblance to Polyrhachis flavicornis, a species that is widely distributed throughout South East Asia, including Borneo. In contrast, P. fruhstorferi appears to be endemic to Sulawesi. The outline and sculpturation of the head and mesosoma is very similar in both species and they have an almost identical configuration of the petiolar spines. I believe that P. fruhstorferi could prove to be just a population of P. flavicornis, but a more detailed study of the geographic variation of the latter species will be necessary to ascertain their true relationship. Polyrhachis fruhstorferi is also closely related to Polyrhachis neglecta, as detailed in the identification section for the latter species.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 18.096984° to -4.85°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia (type locality), Malaysia, Philippines, Sulawesi.

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

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Polyrhachis fruhstorferi casent0906573 h 1 high.jpgPolyrhachis fruhstorferi casent0906573 p 1 high.jpgPolyrhachis fruhstorferi casent0906573 d 1 high.jpgPolyrhachis fruhstorferi casent0906573 l 1 high.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0906573. 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.

  • fruhstorferi. Polyrhachis fruhstorferi Emery, 1898b: 238, figs. 11, 12 (w.) INDONESIA (Sulawesi). Combination in P. (Campomyrma): Viehmeyer, 1916a: 163; in P. (Myrmatopa): Emery, 1925b: 180. Current subspecies: nominal plus torta.

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

Description

Kohout (2008) - Syntype workers. Type locality: INDONESIA, SULAWESI, Toli-Toli (H. Fruhstorfer), Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa (examined).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • 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
  • Emery C. 1898. Descrizioni di formiche nuove malesi e australiane. Note sinonimiche. Rendiconti delle Sessioni della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna (n.s.)2: 231-245.
  • Emery C. 1901. Formiciden von Celebes. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 14:565-580.
  • Emery, C. "Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genova) (2) 20, no. 40 (1900): 661-722.
  • General D. M., and G. D. Alpert. 2012. A synoptic review of the ant genera (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the Philippines. Zookeys 200: 1-111.
  • Kohout, R. J. 2008. A review of the Polyrhachis ants of Sulawesi with keys and descriptions of new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 52:255-317.
  • Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
  • Robson Simon Database Polyrhachis -05 Sept 2014