Polyrhachis rufipes

Polyrhachis rufipes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Polyrhachis
Subgenus:	Myrmhopla
Species:	P. rufipes
Binomial name
Polyrhachis rufipes Smith, F., 1858 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Polyrhachis exasperata oblisa Forel, 1911 Polyrhachis exasperatus Smith, F., 1861 Polyrhachis phipsoni Forel, 1894

Photo Gallery

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  Polyrhachis rufipes worker, Johor, Malaysia (photo by Nicky Bay).
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  Polyrhachis rufipes worker, Johor, Malaysia (photo by Nicky Bay).

Identification

A member of the Polyrhachis furcata species group.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Polyrhachis of India
• Key to Sulawesi Polyrhachis subgenera and species-groups

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 5.966666667° to -2.218684°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo (type locality), Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines.
Oriental Region: Laos, Myanmar.
Palaearctic Region: China.

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

Workers of P. rufipes use the trails of Stictoponera menadensis to gain access to sugar sources. When they encounter Stictoponera foragers, P . rufipes workers show a typical aggressive antennal boxing, to which Stictoponera reacts submissively (Gobin, Peeters, and Billen 1998). This is the only known instance of commensalism between an ectatommine and a formicine ant.

Castes

Worker

.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Holotype of Polyrhachis rufipes. Worker. Specimen code casent0903374. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Syntype of Polyrhachis exasperatus. Worker. Specimen code casent0903375. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0217795. Photographer Will Ericson, 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.

• rufipes. Polyrhachis rufipes Smith, F. 1858b: 66, pl. 4, fig. 28 (w.) BORNEO. Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 196. Senior synonym of exasperatus, oblisa, phipsoni: Bolton, 1974b: 178.
• exasperatus. Polyrhachis exasperatus Smith, F. 1861b: 41, pl. 1, fig. 16 (w.) INDONESIA (Sulawesi). Viehmeyer, 1916b: 288 (q.). Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 193. Junior synonym of rufipes: Bolton, 1974b: 178.
• phipsoni. Polyrhachis phipsoni Forel, 1894c: 399 (w.) MYANMAR. Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 193. Subspecies of rufipes: Forel, 1911e: 297; Emery, 1925b: 193. Junior synonym of rufipes: Bolton, 1974b: 178.
• oblisa. Polyrhachis exasperata var. oblisa Forel, 1911d: 395 (w.) WEST MALAYSIA. Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 193. Junior synonym of rufipes: Bolton, 1974b: 178.

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

Type Material

Kohout (2008) - Holotype worker. BORNEO, SARAWAK, The Natural History Museum (examined).

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

Polyrhachis exasperatus

One worker syntype in Oxford University Museum of Natural History; one worker syntype in The Natural History Museum. Labelled “Tond.” (= Tondano, Sulawesi), and with the figure “2” written in pencil, bottom right on the stage card. Oxford University Museum of Natural History syntype with a Donisthorpe type-label.

References

• Adams, R.M.M., Wells, R.L., Yanoviak, S.P., Frost, C.J., Fox, E.G.P. 2020. Interspecific Eavesdropping on Ant Chemical Communication. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8. (doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.00024).
• Bolton, B. 1974b [1973]. New synonymy and a new name in the ant genus Polyrhachis F. Smith (Hym., Formicidae). Entomol. Mon. Mag. 109: 172-180 (page 178, Senior synonym of exasperatus, oblisa and phipsoni)
• Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 196, Combination in P. (Myrmhopla))
• Gobin, B., Peeters, C., Billen, J. & Morgan, E.D. 1998. Interspecific trail-following and commensalism between the ponerine ant Gnamptogenys menadensis and the formicine ant Polyrhachis rufipes. J. Insect Behav. 11: 361-369.
• Khachonpisitsak, S., Yamane, S., Sriwichai, P., Jaitrong, W. 2020. An updated checklist of the ants of Thailand (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 998, 1–182 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.998.54902).
• Kohout, R.J. 2008a. 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.
• Kreider, J.J., Chen, T.W., Hartke, T.R., Buchori, D., Hidayat, P., Nazarreta, R., Scheu, S., Drescher, J. 2021. Rainforest conversion to monocultures favors generalist ants with large colonies. Ecosphere 12 (doi:10.1002/ecs2.3717).
• Liu, C., Fischer, G., Hita Garcia, F., Yamane, S., Liu, Q., Peng, Y.Q., Economo, E.P., Guénard, B., Pierce, N.E. 2020. Ants of the Hengduan Mountains: a new altitudinal survey and updated checklist for Yunnan Province highlight an understudied insect biodiversity hotspot. ZooKeys 978, 1–171 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.978.55767).
• Smith, F. 1858b. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part VI. Formicidae. London: British Museum, 216 pp. (page 66, pl. 4, fig. 28 worker described)
• Stukalyuk, S., Radchenko, Y., Gonchar, O., Akhmedov, A., Stelia, V., Reshetov, A., Shymanskyi, A. 2021. Mixed colonies of Lasius umbratus and Lasius fuliginosus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): when superparasitism may potentially develop into coexistence: a case study in Ukraine and Moldova. Halteres 12, 25–48 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.5753121).
• Wong, T.L., Guénard, B. 2020. Review of ants from the genus Polyrhachis Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) in Hong Kong and Macau, with notes on their natural history. Asian Myrmecology 13: e013001 (doi:10.20362/am.013001).
• Yamane, S., Tanaka, H.O., Hasimoto, Y., Ohashi, M., Meleng, P., Itioka, T. 2021. A list of ants from Lambir Hills National Park and its vicinity, with their biological information: Part II. Subfamilies Leptanillinae, Proceratiinae, Amblyoponinae, Ponerinae, Dorylinae, Dolichoderinae, Ectatomminae and Formicinae. Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University 31, 87–157.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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• 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. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
• 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.
• Fontanilla A. M., A. Nakamura, Z. Xu, M. Cao, R. L. Kitching, Y. Tang, and C. J. Burwell. 2019. Taxonomic and functional ant diversity along tropical, subtropical, and subalpine elevational transects in southwest China. Insects 10, 128; doi:10.3390/insects10050128
• Forel A. 1911. Die Ameisen des K. Zoologischen Museums in München. Sitzungsber. Math.-Phys. Kl. K. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. Münch. 11: 249-303.
• Forel A. 1911. Fourmis nouvelles ou intéressantes. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 47: 331-400.
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• Kohout R.J., and M. Mohamed. 2008. A preliminary list of the Polyrhachis ants of the Maliau Basin Conservation area in Sabah, Borneo (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Asian Myrmecology 2: 63-70.
• 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.
• Li Q., Y. Chen, S. Wang, Y. Zheng, Y. Zhu, and S. Wang. 2009. Diversity of ants in subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest in Pu'er City, Yunnan. Biodiversity Science 17(3): 233-239.
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