Notoncus gilberti
Notoncus gilberti | |
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Notoncus gilberti | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Formicinae |
Tribe: | Melophorini |
Genus: | Notoncus |
Species: | N. gilberti |
Binomial name | |
Notoncus gilberti Forel, 1895 | |
Synonyms | |
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This is the only species of Notoncus known to occur outside Australia.
Identification
- Scutellum in the form of a thick, rounded tumulus or oval process.
- Propodeum at most very finely and superficially sculptured, essentially smooth and shiny; dorsum of gaster with only extremely sparse punctulation and appressed pubescence; mandibles very finely striate over most of dorsal surfaces (less so near insertions).
Heterick (2009) - This species has cornicles on the humeral angles, and the metanotum, which is posteriorly lobate, is raised above the level of the propodeum.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Heterick (2009) - Found in wetter parts of the south-west (WA), but its more general range also includes NSW and Qld.
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -8.75° to -33.91667175°.
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. |
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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
Heterick (2009) - Abundant in and around Perth, and quite commonly colonises suburban gardens. Here, small granules of soil heaped into amorphous clumps are often the only sign of its presence during the day, as the ant is usually a nocturnal forager.
Wheeler (1934) collected workers and a female from a nest under stones.
Castes
Worker
Images from AntWeb
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Worker. Specimen code casent0172021. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- gilberti. Notoncus gilberti Forel, 1895f: 418 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA. Senior synonym of annectens, gracilior, politus and material of the unavailable name manni referred here: Brown, 1955d: 490.
- gracilior. Notoncus gilberti var. gracilior Forel, 1907h: 299 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of gilberti: Brown, 1955d: 490. See also: Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 153.
- politus. Notoncus politus Viehmeyer, 1925a: 38 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of gilberti: Brown, 1955d: 490.
- annectens. Notoncus gilberti subsp. annectens Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 154 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of gilberti: Brown, 1955d: 490.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Type Material
- Notoncus gilberti: Syntype, 1 worker, Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
- Notoncus gilberti: Syntype, worker(s), Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
- Notoncus gilberti gracilior: Holotype, queen (probably lost), Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, Berlin Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität.
- Notoncus politus: Syntype, 1 worker, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
- Notoncus politus: Syntype, worker(s), Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia, Museum für Tierkunde (probably).
- Notoncus gilberti annectens: Syntype, 3 workers, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Notoncus gilberti annectens: Syntype, 26 workers, Enoggera, Queensland, Australia, 14 November 1914, Wheeler,W.M., Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Notoncus gilberti annectens: Syntype, 3 workers, Enoggera, Queensland, Australia, 14 November 1914, Wheeler,W.M., South Australian Museum.
Description
Wheeler (1934) - Length 3-4 mm.
Head slightly longer than broad, subrectangular very nearly as broad in front as behind, with straight posterior border and slightly convex sides. Eyes feebly convex, their anterior orbits at the median transverse diameter of the head; ocelli minute, rather widely seperated. Mandibles stout, with convex external borders, their masticatory borders with six teeth, all stout, except the third from the tip, which is minute. Clypeus convex and carinate in the middle, its anterior border broadly rounded and feebly and rather broadly sinuate in the middle. Antennal scapes extending fully twice their :greatest diameter beyond the posterior corners of the head; first funicular joint as long as 2 and 3 together, joints 2-10 nearly one and one-half times as long as broad, terminal joint slightly shorter than the two preceding -together. Pronotum without the neck more than twice as broad as long, produced on each side as a broad, blunt, subtriangular protuberance; mesometanotum in profile straight and horizontal, interrupted by the impressed mesometanotal suture; mesonotum from above broadly elliptical, truncated posteriorly, longer than broad; metanotum semicircular; metaepinotal incision deep, overhung by the posterior, swollen end of the metanotum; epinotum .small and low, concave and sloping in the middle, on each side with a strong, thick, rounded, longitudinal thickening or welt so that in profile the base seems to be convex and horizontal, shorter than the abrupt, concave declivity. Petiole less than twice as high as long, the scale in profile cuneate, the anterior and posterior surfaces convex, the apex more compressed and narrowed, the superior border acute and broadly excised. Gaster elliptical. Legs moderately long.
Shining; mandibles finely and superficially striate, very sparsely punctate; clypeus, cheeks and front nearly as far back; as the anterior ocellus sharply, longitudinally striate; frontal area' and remainder of head smooth and shining, the latter very sparsely punctulate; thorax very smooth and shining, except the neck and extreme anterior border of the mesonotum, which are transversely, and the pleural which are in places indistinctly, longitudinally striate. Petiole and gaster smooth and shining, sparsely punctulate; legs more shagreened, with coarser, piligerous punctures, antennal scapes very finely granular, subopaque.
Hairs yellowish, bristly, very sparse, erect and of uneven length on the body and scapes; more numerous and oblique on the legs; pubescence fine and appressed, present only on the scapes, middle and hind coxal; gaster with some appressed and very short hairs.
Brownish red, gaster blackish or dark brown; femora, tibial and in some specimens also the thorax and posterior portion of the head infuscated; thoracic sutures, trochanters, knees, tarsi and posterior borders of gastric segments yellowish; mandibles, except the teeth, which are black, clypeus and cheeks yellow.
References
- Brown, W. L., Jr. 1955d. A revision of the Australian ant genus Notoncus Emery, with notes on the other genera of Melophorini. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 113: 471-494 (page 490, Senior synonym of annectens, gracilior and politus, and material of the unavailable name manni referred here)
- 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).
- Forel, A. (1907). Formicidae. pp. 263–310 in Michaelsen, W. & Hartmeyer, R. (eds) Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Jena : G. Fischer Vol. 1.
- Forel, A. 1895g. Nouvelles fourmis d'Australie, récoltées à The Ridge, Mackay, Queensland, par M. Gilbert Turner. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 39: 417-428 (page 418, worker, queen described)
- Heterick, B. E. 2009a. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206. Part 2.
- 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).
- Hoffmann, B., Eldridge, J., Marston, C. 2023. The first eradication of an exotic ant species from the entirety of Australia: Pheidole fervens. Management of Biological Invasions, 14(4), 619–624 (doi:10.3391/mbi.2023.14.4.03).
- Viehmeyer, H. (1925). Formiciden der australischen Faunenregion. (Fortsetzung.). Entomologische Mitteilungen. Berlin-Dahlem. 14: 25–39.
- Wheeler, W. M. (1934). Contributions to the fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. No. IX. The ants. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 20: 137–163.
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Brown W. L., Jr. 1955. A revision of the Australian ant genus Notoncus Emery, with notes on the other genera of Melophorini. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 113: 471-494.
- 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.
- Taylor R. W. 1992. Nomenclature and distribution of some Australian and New Guinean ants of the subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 31: 57-69.
- Wheeler W. M. 1934. Contributions to the fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. No. IX. The ants. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 20: 137-163.