Dinomyrmex gigas

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Dinomyrmex gigas
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Dinomyrmex
Species: D. gigas
Binomial name
Dinomyrmex gigas
(Latreille, 1802)

Camponotus gigas L.jpg

Camponotous-gigas Dorsal.jpg

Specimen Label

Subspecies

Dinomyrmex gigas is perhaps the best known ant within its range. It roams the ground surface during the day but ascends to forage in the canopy principally at night (Orr & Charles 1994; Pfeiffer & Linsenmair 2000); this accords with Heterick & Kitching (2022) who encountered this species in leaf litter but not in the otherwise rich canopy knockdown samples, which were all collected during the day.

Photo Gallery

  • Worker of D. gigas retrieving a cricket. From Maliau, Sabah. Photo by Christian Peeters.
  • Minor worker from Danum Valley, Sabah. Photo by Steve Shattuck.
  • Dinomyrmex gigas minor worker, Borneo. For size comparison, a nuptial flight of a Solenopsis species was occurring just as the Dinomyrmex was foraging by (queen in upper left of photo). Photo by François Brassard.
  • Foraging Dinomyrmex gigas minor worker, Borneo. Photo by François Brassard.
  • Nest of D. gigas in a rotting log on the ground. The ants have used soil and debris to build a wall and close off the entrance (partially broken in photo). From Maliau, Sabah. Photo by Christian Peeters.

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 7.039649671° to -5.038810593°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore.
Oriental Region: Thailand.

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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.
pChart

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.
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Biology

Monogynous (i.e. one queen) colonies. Established colonies have tens of thousands of workers distributed in 8-14 underground nests that are 10-20 meters apart (i.e. polydomy) (Pfeiffer & Linsenmair 1998, 2000).

Diet is mostly honeydew as well as insect prey, bird droppings and other excrements (Pfeiffer & Linsenmair 2007).

Association with Other Organisms

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  • This species is a host for the cricket Camponophilus irmi (a myrmecophile) in Borneo (Ingrisch, 1995).
  • This species is a host for the phorid fly Megaselia persecutrix (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps formicarum (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps halabalaensis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps halabalaensis (a pathogen) (Araujo et al., 2018).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

Flight Period

X X X X X X X X X X X X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: Pfeiffer & Linsenmair, 1997.

Castes

One large colony studied in Kinabalu (Sabah) consisted of 87.3% workers or "minors" (mean weight was 135mg) and 12.7% soldiers or "majors" (mean weight 372mg) (Pfeiffer & Linsenmaier 2000).

Bimodal distribution of 948 workers ("minors") and 137 soldiers ("majors") in D. gigas. From Pfeiffer & Linsenmaier (2000).

DinomyrmexEconomo-header (arilab.unit.oist.jp).png  X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Dinomyrmex gigas (worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.

Head of one of the largest ants in the world, collected from Borneo, Malaysia. See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.

Nomenclature

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

  • gigas. Formica gigas Latreille, 1802c: 105, pl. 2, fig. 6 (s.) "Grandes-Indes". Smith, F. 1858b: 14 (w.q.m.). Combination in Camponotus: Mayr, 1862: 669; in Dinomyrmex: Ashmead, 1905b: 384; in C. (Myrmogigas): Forel, 1912i: 91; in C. (Dinomyrmex): Forel, 1914a: 268. Combination in Dinomyrmex: Ward, et al., 2016: 350. See also: Bingham, 1903: 369. Current subspecies: nominal plus borneensis.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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