Ant Diversity of New Caledonia
The Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, located 1200 km off the central Queensland coast, is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Most of its exceptionally diverse biota occurs nowhere else. It includes a highly significant ant fauna that has radiations of both Gondwanan (e.g. Monomorium and Rhytidoponera) and Indo-Malayan (e.g. Lordomyrma, Vollenhovia) origins. This fauna is strongly associated with rainforest habitat, with diverse radiations occurring in all habitat strata – in the litter (cryptic species of Discothyrea and Vollenhovia), on the ground (epigaeic species of Lordomyrma, Rhytidoponera and Monomorium), and in trees (arboreal species of Camponotus).
The last compilation of the New Caledonian ant fauna was in 1987, reporting 101 native species. Since then, local research has nearly doubled this count. Many of the species have very narrow distributions, so it is likely that many more species remain uncollected. With the type specimens of described species being scattered in different museum collections, and the taxonomic status of many species-rich genera (e.g. Monomorium, Pheidole) remaining uncertain, it is clear that knowledge of this fauna is incomplete.
During a recent PhD study on the impacts of anthropogenic fires and invasive ants on native ant diversity in New Caledonia, 183 species (171 natives) were collected using a range of sampling techniques. Native species represented 7 subfamilies and 32 genera, with the most species-rich genera being Monomorium (33 species), Lordomyrma (19), Pheidole (16), Rhytidoponera (13) and Camponotus (12). Images of all these species are provided here, and specimens are deposited at the CSIRO Tropical Ecology Research Centre collection in Darwin, Australia.
See also the New Caledonia checklist of described species.
Acropyga
- Acropyga sp. A
Adelomyrmex
- Adelomyrmex sp. A
Amblyopone
- Amblyopone sp. A
Anochetus
Anoplolepis
Brachymyrmex
- Brachymyrmex cf. obscurior
- Brachymyrmex sp. B
Calyptomyrmex
- Calyptomyrmex sp. A
Camponotus
- Camponotus sp. A
- Camponotus sp. B
- Camponotus sp. C
- Camponotus sp. D
- Camponotus sp. E
- Camponotus sp. F
- Camponotus sp. G
- Camponotus sp. H
- Camponotus sp. I
- Camponotus sp. J
- Camponotus sp. L
- Camponotus sp. N
Cardiocondyla
Carebara
- Carebara sp. B
Crematogaster
- Crematogaster sp. A
Cryptopone
Discothyrea
- Discothyrea sp. A
- Discothyrea sp. B
- Discothyrea sp. C
- Discothyrea sp. D
- Discothyrea sp. E
- Discothyrea sp. F
- Discothyrea sp. G
- Discothyrea sp. H
Dolichoderus
Eurhopalothrix
- Eurhopalothrix sp. A
Hypoponera
- Hypoponera sp. A
- Hypoponera sp. B
- Hypoponera sp. D
- Hypoponera sp. E
- Hypoponera sp. F
- Hypoponera sp. G
- Hypoponera sp. H
Iridomyrmex
- Iridomyrmex sp. A
Leptogenys
Key to the Leptogenys of New Caledonia
- Leptogenys sp. C
- Leptogenys sp. D
Leptomyrmex
Lioponera
Key to the Lioponera of New Caledonia
- Cerapachys sp. C
Lordomyrma
- Lordomyrma sp. A
- Lordomyrma sp. B
- Lordomyrma sp. C
- Lordomyrma sp. D
- Lordomyrma sp. E
- Lordomyrma sp. F
- Lordomyrma sp. G
- Lordomyrma sp. H
- Lordomyrma sp. I
- Lordomyrma sp. J
- Lordomyrma sp. K
- Lordomyrma sp. L
- Lordomyrma sp. M
- Lordomyrma sp. N
- Lordomyrma sp. O
- Lordomyrma sp. P
- Lordomyrma sp. Q
- Lordomyrma sp. R
- Lordomyrma sp. T
Meranoplus
Monomorium
- Monomorium sp. A
- Monomorium sp. AA
- Monomorium sp. AB
- Monomorium sp. AC
- Monomorium sp. AD
- Monomorium sp. AF
- Monomorium sp. AG
- Monomorium sp. AH
- Monomorium sp. AI
- Monomorium sp. AK
- Monomorium sp. AL
- Monomorium sp. B
- Monomorium sp. D
- Monomorium sp. E
- Monomorium sp. F
- Monomorium sp. G
- Monomorium sp. H
- Monomorium sp. I
- Monomorium sp. J
- Monomorium sp. K
- Monomorium sp. L
- Monomorium sp. M
- Monomorium sp. N
- Monomorium sp. O
- Monomorium sp. P
- Monomorium sp. Q
- Monomorium sp. R
- Monomorium sp. S
- Monomorium sp. U
- Monomorium sp. V
- Monomorium sp. W
- Monomorium sp. X
- Monomorium sp. Y
Nylanderia
- Nylanderia sp. L
Ochetellus
- Ochetellus cf. glaber
- Ochetellus sp. B
Odontomachus
- Odontomachus cf. simillimus
Orectognathus
Paraparatrechina
- Paraparatrechina sp. A
- Paraparatrechina sp. B
- Paraparatrechina sp. C
- Paraparatrechina sp. D
- Paraparatrechina sp. E
- Paraparatrechina sp. F
- Paraparatrechina sp. G
- Paraparatrechina sp. I
- Paraparatrechina sp. J
- Paraparatrechina sp. K
Paratrechina
Pheidole
- Pheidole sp. B
- Pheidole sp. A
- Pheidole sp. C
- Pheidole sp. D
- Pheidole sp. E
- Pheidole sp. F
- Pheidole sp. G
- Pheidole sp. H
- Pheidole sp. I
- Pheidole sp. J
- Pheidole sp. M
- Pheidole sp. N
- Pheidole sp. O
- Pheidole sp. T
- Pheidole sp. V
- Pheidole sp. W
Polyrhachis
Rhytidoponera
- Rhytidoponera sp. C
- Rhytidoponera sp. E
- Rhytidoponera sp. G
- Rhytidoponera sp. H
- Rhytidoponera sp. I
- Rhytidoponera sp. J
- Rhytidoponera sp. K
- Rhytidoponera sp. L
Rogeria
- Rogeria sp. A
- Rogeria sp. B
- Rogeria sp. C
Solenopsis
- Solenopsis sp. A
- Solenopsis sp. B
Strumigenys
- Strumigenys sp. A
- Strumigenys sp. C
- Strumigenys sp. F
Tapinoma
Technomyrmex
Tetramorium
- Tetramorium cf. pacificum
- Tetramorium sp. A
- Tetramorium sp. B
- Tetramorium sp. C
Vollenhovia
- Vollenhovia sp. A
- Vollenhovia sp. B
- Vollenhovia sp. C
- Vollenhovia sp. D
- Vollenhovia sp. E