Mayriella overbecki

Mayriella overbecki
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Mayriella
Species:	M. overbecki
Binomial name
	Mayriella overbecki; Viehmeyer, 1925 Specimen labels

This is one of the rarer species of Mayriella, being known from only five collections. These collections were from rainforest in north-eastern New South Wales, with nests being found in rotten logs.

Identification

This species can be separated from others in the genus by the combination of small, scattered pits on the mesosomal dorsum, weak sculpturing in the posterior sections of the antennal scrobes and the petiole with a relatively long posterior face and acute angle. (Shattuck and Barnett 2007)

Identification Keys including this Taxon

Key to Australian Leptomyrmex Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -25.91666667° to -37.62861111°.


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
Mayriella overbecki				40-50
Shading indicates the bands of elevation where species was recorded. Numbers are the percentage of total samples containing this species.

Biology

Species of Mayriella show strong preference for moist, forested areas. Most specimens have been collected from rainforest or wet sclerophyll woodlands with relatively few collections from dry sclerophyll or scrub habitats (and these are restricted to Australia). Nests are normally found in soil under stones or with a small mound of loose dirt at the entrance. They have also been found nesting in rotten logs and occasionally arboreally. The number of workers in nests averages between 50 and 100 and about one-half of the nest series containing queens contain more than one, suggesting that species are polygynous. Foraging workers are most commonly collected from litter samples. Nests appear to be locally abundant although patchily distributed on a larger scale. For example, in the Brindabella Ranges near Canberra, ACT, Mayriella ebbei is infrequently encountered and is known from only a few localities. However, near Baroomba Rocks (located on the eastern slope of the Brindabella Ranges) M. ebbei occurs commonly under rocks in an area covering several hundred square meters. This population appears limited to this small area as nests could not be found in areas with similar geography and vegetation located several kilometers away. However, observations are limited and additional data will be required to determine if these habits are widespread and/or occur in other species. Additionally, while Taylor (1961) made similar observations for Mayriella abstinens, these were based on the introduced population found in New Zealand and should be confirmed for naturally occurring populations of the genus. (Shattuck and Barnett 2007)

Castes

Nomenclature

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

overbecki. Mayriella overbecki Viehmeyer, 1925a: 26 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
- Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queens (numbers not stated).
- Type-locality: Australia: New South Wales, Trial Bay (H. Overbeck).
- Type-depositories: MCZC, MNHU, NHMB.
- Junior synonym of abstinens: Wheeler, W.M. 1935e: 151 (footnote); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 65; Taylor, 1987a: 37; Bolton, 1995b: 249.
- Status as species: Shattuck & Barnett, 2007: 446 (redescription); Shattuck, 2007: 51 (in key).
- Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

Syntype, 1 queen, Trial Bay, New South Wales, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Syntype, 1 worker, 1 queen, Trial Bay, New South Wales, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
Syntype, worker(s), queen(s), Trial Bay, New South Wales, Australia, Berlin Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität.

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

Description

Worker

Shattuck and Barnett (2007) - Sculpturing in posterior section of antennal scrobe at most weakly developed and always indistinct; sculpturing on dorsal mesosoma consisting of small, widely spaced pits; propodeal spines relatively short and thick; dorsal surface of petiole in lateral profile uniformly convex, without distinct dorsal and posterior faces and forming a blunt angle with the anterior face; in dorsal view, postpetiole with the anterior and posterior regions approximately the same width (the region connecting them either flat or weakly convex); postpetiole and gaster lacking erect hairs dorsally.

Measurements. Worker (n = 7): CI 0.91-0.94; HL 0.51-0.57; HTL 0.30-0.35; HW 0.48- 0.53; ML 0.54-0.62; PW 0.33-0.37; SI 0.62-0.68; SL 0.30-0.35.

References

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.
Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
Shattuck, S.O. & Barnett, N.J. 2007. Revision of the ant genus Mayriella (pp. 437-458). In Snelling, R.R., Fisher, B.L. & Ward, P.S. (eds). Advances in ant systematics: homage to E.O. Wilson – 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80:690 pp.
Viehmeyer, H. 1925a. Formiciden der australischen Faunenregion. (Fortsetzung.). Entomol. Mitt. 14: 25-39 (page 26, worker, queen described)
Wheeler, W. M. 1935e. The Australian ant genus Mayriella Forel. Psyche (Camb.) 42: 151-160 (page 151, (footnote) Junior synonym of abstinens)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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.
Shattuck S. O., N. J. Barnett. 2007. Revision of the ant genus Mayriella. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80: 437-458.
Sinclair J. E., and T. R. New. 2004. Pine plantations in south eastern Australia support highly impoverished ant assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Insect Conservation 8: 277-286.