Colobostruma australis

Colobostruma australis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Colobostruma
Species:	C. australis
Binomial name
	Colobostruma australis; Brown, 1959 Specimen Label

This species is most often found in wet sclerophyll and rainforests although in Western Australian it has been found in sandplain heath. Nests are generally in rotten wood or occasionally soil.

Identification

Shattuck (2000) - Among species in the froggatti-group australis can be recognised by the presence of a 6 (or rarely more) segmented antenna which lacks a subbasal lobe. As conceived here, this species shows considerable colour variation. This involves primarily the development of infuscation which varies from completely absent to well developed on the mesosoma, petiole and postpetiole and to a lesser extent the head and gaster. However, the variation in this character is so great that it is of little value in recognising subsets of specimens and is thus considered here to represent intraspecific variation.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -27.15° to -37.88333333°.


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.

Elevation Range

Occurrence at collecting sites during elevational surveys of rainforest in the Eungella region, Queensland, Australia (Burwell et al., 2020).
Species	Elevation (m asl)
Species	200	400	600	800	1000	1200
Colobostruma australis						10-20
Shading indicates the bands of elevation where species was recorded. Numbers are the percentage of total samples containing this species.

Biology

Explore Overview of Colobostruma biology

Beyond what is stated in the introduction at the top of this page, little is know about the biology of Colobostruma australis. Until further studies reveal more about this species we can infer that its natural history and biology should be similar to other species in this genus. In general Colobostruma can be locally common although they are often overlooked. Most species have small colonies with less than 100 workers, and workers will lie motionless when disturbed. Nests can occur in soil usually under rocks, in cracks in rocks or in rotten logs. Only a single rainforest species is known to nest arboreally. Foraging is usually on the ground at night but occasionally they are found foraging on mallee. They are also commonly found in leaf litter.

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Castes

Nomenclature

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

australis. Colobostruma australis Brown, 1959c: 4, fig. 3 (w.q.m.) AUSTRALIA. See also: Shattuck, in Bolton, 2000: 41.

Type Material

Paratype Specimen Labels

Holotype, worker, Kallista, Dandenong Range, Victoria, Australia, September 1950, J. Clark & W.L. Brown, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Paratype, 2 workers, Kallista, Dandenong Range, Victoria, Australia, September 1950, J. Clark & W.L. Brown, South Australian Museum.
Paratype, 1 queen, Dorrigo, New South Wales, Australia, W. Heron, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Paratype, 6 workers, 3 queens, Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia, J. Clark and W.L. Brown, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Paratype, 11 workers, 1 queen, Kallista, Dandenong Range, Victoria, Australia, J. Clark, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Paratype, 4 workers, Moss Vale, New South Wales, Australia, T. Greaves, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Paratype, 2 workers, Kallista, Dandenong Range, Victoria, Australia, Queensland Museum.
Paratype, worker(s), queen(s), male(s), Narbethong, Victoria, Australia, J.J. McAreavey.

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

Description

Worker

Shattuck (2000) - TL 2.6 - 3.2, HL 0.68 - 0.76, HW 0.58 - 0.69, CI 85 - 91, ML 0.17 - 0.19, MI 22 - 26, SL 0.34 - 0.40, SI 56 - 59, PW 0.35 - 0.44, AL 0.74 - 0.89 (6 measured). Anterior region of head rounding gradually from the dorsal to lateral surfaces, not phragmotic. Ridge immediately in front of eye reduced, weakly defined. Frontal lobes and lateral margins of clypeus smooth relative to the surrounding surface of the head. Mandibles broadly triangular. Hairs absent from dorsum of head. Posterior margin of head deeply concave. Antenna with 6, or rarely more, segments. Scape elbowed and lacking a subbasal lobe. Pronotum lacking anterolateral angles. Propodeum high, its posterior face approximately the same height as the petiolar node and with broad, thin lamellae; in profile the dorsum of the mesosoma weakly convex with a weak concavity at the metanotal groove. Lateral postpetiole drawn outwards into thin flange-like wings, the wings with translucent windows along their posterior margins only. First gastral tergite smooth, superimposed with low, closely spaced carinae on the anterior one-quarter. Body colour honey yellow, generally with varying amounts of infuscation on the dorsum of the head, dorsal and lateral surfaces of the mesosoma, petiole, postpetiole and dorsum of the gaster. In extreme cases the majority of the mesosoma, petiole and postpetiole are dark red-black.

References

Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 65: 1-1028 (page 41, see also)
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1959c. Some new species of dacetine ants. Breviora 108: 1-11 (page 4, fig. 3 worker, queen, male described)
Burwell, C.J., Nakamura, A. 2020. Rainforest ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an elevational gradient at Eungella in the Clarke Range, Central Queensland coast, Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 125: 43-63.
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).
Shattuck, S. O. 2000. Genus Colobostruma. Genus Mesostruma. Genus Epopostruma. Pp. 31-67 in: Bolton, B. The ant tribe Dacetini. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 65: 1-1028.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
Burwell C.J., and A. Nakamura. 2011. Distribution of ant speces along an altitudinal transect in continuous rainforest in subtropical Queensland, Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum -Nature 55(2): 391-411.
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.