Odontomachus banksi

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Odontomachus banksi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Odontomachus
Species: O. banksi
Binomial name
Odontomachus banksi
Forel, 1910

Odontomachus banksi casent0901975 p 1 high.jpg

Odontomachus banksi casent0901975 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Found only in dipterocarp forests, sometimes degraded, on mountain slopes.

Identification

Sorger & Zettel (2011) - Odontomachus banksi is the most distinct Philippine member of the Odontomachus infandus group species. It can be distinguished from all other species by the relatively long and dense pilosity of the mesosoma and by striation on the etiole. The smooth and shiny posterior of the head is also the Western Visayas, Odontomachus scifictus on Camiguin, and O. sp. 2 on Mindanao. They have brown heads and a smooth area on the mesopleuron, whereas the head of O. banksi is yellowish orange and its mesopleuron densely and fully striate. A population of Odontomachus alius from Catanduanes resembles O. banksi in light and (partly) smooth head, but differs in sparse pilosity of mesosoma, fine striation of mesopleuron, distinctly curved petiolar spine (straight in O. banksi), and brownish gaster (blackish in O. banksi).

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Endemic to the Philippines and present only in the central and southern parts of Luzon; records from Laguna, Quezon (Brown 1976), Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 8.533333778° to 8.050000191°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Philippines (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Odontomachus banksi casent0907422 h 1 high.jpgOdontomachus banksi casent0907422 p 1 high.jpgOdontomachus banksi casent0907422 d 1 high.jpgOdontomachus banksi casent0907422 h 2 high.jpgOdontomachus banksi casent0907422 l 1 high.jpg
Lectotype of Odontomachus banksiWorker. Specimen code casent0907422. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.
Odontomachus banksiH.jpgOdontomachus banksiL.jpgOdontomachus banksiD.jpg
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Odontomachus banksi casent0901975 h 2 high.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0901975. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

  • banksi. Odontomachus banksi Forel, 1910d: 121 (w.) PHILIPPINES (Luzon I.).
    • Type-material: lectotype worker (by designation of Sorger & Zettel, 2011: 154), 2 paralectotype workers.
    • Type-locality: lectotype Philippines: Luzon, Laguna, Mt Banajao (= Banahaw) (C.S. Banks); paralectotypes with same data.
    • Type-depository: MHNG.
    • Viehmeyer, 1916b: 284 (q.).
    • Status as species: Emery, 1911d: 113; Viehmeyer, 1916b: 284; Wheeler, W.M. & Chapman, 1925: 71; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 42; Baltazar, 1966: 239; Brown, 1976a: 102, 125; Bolton, 1995b: 295; Sorger & Zettel, 2011: 154 (redescription).
    • Distribution: Philippines (Luzon).

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

Description

Worker

Sorger & Zettel (2011) - Lectotype: CI 77, 2.80 HW, 3.65 HL, 56 MdI, 2.05 MdL, 4.95 MsL, 1.60 PnW, 1.47 PtH, 1.63 PtL, 0.58 PtW, 132 SI, 3.70 SL, 16 TL worker with smallest HW: CI 67, HL 2.90, HW 1.95, MdI 56, MdL 1.63, MsL 4.13, PnW 1.13, PtH 1.02, PtL 1.16, PtW 0.40, SI 157, SL 3.07, TL 12.38; worker with largest HW: CI 74, HL 3.70, HW 2.73, MdI 55, MdL 2.05, MsL 5.33, SI 138, SL 3.77, PnW 1.59, PtH 1.58, PtL 1.68, PtW 0.58, TL 15.75.

Structures: Striation on head extending from frontal lobes to ocular ridge, rest of head smooth and shiny. Pronotum with round to transverse striation, closed loops and circles may be visible in dorsal view. Mesopleuron with fine transverse striation. Petiole with some fine striation laterally and with long and acute petiolar spine; anterior face of node straight to almost concave.

Pilosity: Pubescence dense, long.

Colour: Bicoloured; head light brown contrasting with reddish brown mesosoma and petiole, dark brown gaster.

Type Material

Sorger & Zettel (2011) - Lectotype (worker; Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève; present designation) and paralectotypes (2 workers; MHNG), mounted on one pin, from Laguna Province (according to Forel 1910).

There is a discrepancy since the types are workers, but Forel (1910) describes gynes ("♀"). However, we believe that this is due to a typesetting error, as the characters “Mésonotum fortement et largement échancré” [translated: Mesonotum strongly and broadly indented] and “les stries ... du pronotum fines et serrés, parfois longitudinales au milieu” [translated: striae...on pronotum fine and tight together, sometimes longitudinal in the middle] must refer to workers. We select the uppermost worker as the lectotype.


References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • CSIRO Collection
  • Samson D.A., E.A. Rickart, and P.C. Gonzales. 1997. Ant diversity and abundance along an elevational gradient in the Philippines. Biotropica 29(3): 349-363.
  • Sorger, D.M. and H. Zettel. 2011. On the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Philippine Islands: V. The genus Odontomachus LATREILLE, 1804. Myrmecological News. 14:141-163.
  • Viehmeyer H. 1916. Ameisen von den Philippinen und anderer Herkunft (Hym.). Entomologische Mitteilungen. Berlin-Dahlem 5: 283-291.