Rhytidoponera tyloxys

Rhytidoponera tyloxys
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ectatomminae
Tribe:	Ectatommini
Genus:	Rhytidoponera
Species:	R. tyloxys
Binomial name
Rhytidoponera tyloxys Brown & Douglas, 1958

These ants may be specialist predators, unlike most Rhytidoponera (Andersen 2000).

Photo Gallery

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  Rhytidoponera tyloxys worker from Shark Bay, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 5 September 2008.
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  Rhytidoponera tyloxys worker from Shark Bay, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 6 February 2008.

Identification

Heterick (2009) - Possibly consisting of a complex of two or more species, this highly distinctive taxon has an unmistakeable appearance, since the node is produced as a sharp spur or tooth directed posteriad.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Rhytidoponera of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - can be found in the extreme north and probably also in the eastern fringes of the SWBP.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 22.5045° to -28.06666667°.

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.

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code antweb1008715. Photographer Lucinda Gibson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MVMA, Melbourne, Australia.

Nomenclature

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

• tyloxys. Rhytidoponera tyloxys Brown & Douglas, in Brown, 1958g: 282, figs. 36, 37 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: holotype worker, 6 paratype workers.
  • Type-locality: holotype Australia: Western Australia, Woodstock Station, ca 900 mi N Perth, vi.1952 (K.C. Buller); paratypes with same data.
  • Type-depositories: WAMP (holotype); MCZC, WAMP (paratypes).
  • Status as species: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 49; Taylor, 1987a: 71; Bolton, 1995b: 381; Heterick, 2009: 137.
  • Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

• Holotype, worker, Woodstock Station, 900mi. N Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 64–37, Western Australian Museum.
• Paratype, 5 workers, Woodstock Station, 900mi. N Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Paratype, 4 workers, Woodstock Station, 900mi. N Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.

References

• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1958g. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. II. Tribe Ectatommini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 118: 173-362. (page 282, figs. 36, 37 worker 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).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Heterick B. E. 2013. A taxonomic overview and key to the ants of Barrow Island, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 83: 375-404.
• 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.