Anonychomyrma gilberti

Anonychomyrma gilberti
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Tribe:	Leptomyrmecini
Genus:	Anonychomyrma
Species:	A. gilberti
Binomial name
Anonychomyrma gilberti (Forel, 1902) Specimen Label

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -13.73333° to -21.15°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).
Indo-Australian Region: New Guinea.

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

Anonychomyrma species are common in moist to semi-arid forested areas (and are less common in rain forests). They nest either in soil with or without coverings, or arboreally in living or dead wood. Workers forage in conspicuous trails on the ground and on tree trunks. Although not studied in detail, they seem to be general predators and also collect plant juices. Some species are associated with the caterpillars of selected butterflies. Nest sizes are moderate to large, ranging from 500 to tens of thousands of workers. When disturbed, most species elevate their gasters and release strong, acrid smelling chemicals as a defensive measure. While similar to Iridomyrmex in general habitat preferences and ecology, most Anonychomyrma prefer moister sites and are predominately arboreal. Iridomyrmex species occur in drier sites and are predominantly terrestrial.

Castes

Worker

.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0069883. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Worker. Specimen code casent0006102. 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.

• gilberti. Iridomyrmex gilberti Forel, 1902h: 470 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
  • Combination in Anonychomyrma: Shattuck, 1992a: 13.
  • Status as species: Emery, 1913a: 24; Forel, 1915b: 79; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 99; Taylor, 1987a: 32; Shattuck, 1994: 5; Bolton, 1995b: 66.

Type Material

• Iridomyrmex gilberti Forel, 1902: Syntype, 3 workers, Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Turner,G., ANIC32-015041, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Iridomyrmex gilberti Forel, 1902: Syntype, 2 workers, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Iridomyrmex gilberti Forel, 1902: Syntype, 26 workers, various localities in Queensland, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
• Iridomyrmex gilberti Forel, 1902: Syntype, 1 worker, Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel.

References

• Forel, A. 1902j. Fourmis nouvelles d'Australie. Rev. Suisse Zool. 10: 405-548 (page 470, worker described)
• Shattuck, S. O. 1992a. Review of the dolichoderine ant genus Iridomyrmex Mayr with descriptions of three new genera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Aust. Entomol. Soc. 31: 13-18 (page 13, combination in Anonychomyrma)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• 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.
• Nowrouzi S., A. N. Andersen, T. R. Bishop, and S. K. A. Robson. 2018. Is thermal limitation the primary driver of elevational distributions? Not for montane rainforest ants in the Australian Wet Tropics. Oecologia https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4154-y
• Shattuck S. O. 1994. Taxonomic catalog of the ant subfamilies Aneuretinae and Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). University of California Publications in Entomology 112: i-xix, 1-241.