Pseudoneoponera sublaevis

Pseudoneoponera sublaevis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Pseudoneoponera
Species:	P. sublaevis
Binomial name
	Pseudoneoponera sublaevis; (Emery, 1887) Specimen Labels
Subspecies
	Pseudoneoponera sublaevis reticulata Forel, 1900; Pseudoneoponera sublaevis rubicunda Emery, 1893; Pseudoneoponera sublaevis kurandensis Forel, 1910; Pseudoneoponera sublaevis murina Forel, 1910;

Colonies of this queenless species are among the smallest known in all ants : 9±2.5 workers (sample of 12 colonies) (Peeters et al. 1991). Occurs in Australian Eucalyptus forests.

At a Glance

• Gamergate

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -10.743702° to -33.931146°.


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.

Biology

P. sublaevis reproduces via gamergates, but only a single worker in the colony is mated and performs all reproduction in the colony (Ito & Higashi, 1991; Peeters et al., 1991). Workers in a colony are organized in a strict linear hierarchy determined by age and by ritualized dominance displays (Higashi et al., 1994).

Colonies are exceptionally small (9±2.5 workers, sample of 12 colonies) (Peeters et al., 1991).

Castes

Winged queens are absent in this species

Images from AntWeb


Syntype of Bothroponera sublaevis. Worker. Specimen code casent0903892. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

sublaevis. Bothroponera sublaevis Emery, 1887b: 442, 443 (in key, footnote) (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
- Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Somerset (L.M. D’Albertis).
- Type-depository: MSNG.
- [Misspelled as sublevis by Dalla Torre, 1893: 36, and others.]
- Wheeler, W.M. 1918c: 299 (l.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1952c: 621 (l.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1971c: 387 (l.).
- Combination in Pachycondyla (Bothroponera): Emery, 1901a: 45;
- combination in Bothroponera: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 22;
- combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 310;
- combination in Pseudoneoponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 135.
- Status as species: Emery, 1911d: 77; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 22; Taylor, 1987a: 9; Bolton, 1995b: 310.
- Distribution: Australia.
- Current subspecies: nominal plus kurandensis, murina, reticulata (unresolved junior homonym), rubicunda.

Type Material

Bothroponera sublaevis Emery, 1887: Syntype, 1 worker, Somerset, Queensland, Australia, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa.

Description

References

Brown, W. L., Jr. 1995a. [Untitled. Taxonomic changes in Pachycondyla attributed to Brown.] Pp. 302-311 in: Bolton, B. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 310, combination in Pachycondyla)
Emery, C. 1887f. Catalogo delle formiche esistenti nelle collezioni del Museo Civico di Genova. Parte terza. Formiche della regione Indo-Malese e dell'Australia (continuazione e fine). [part]. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. 25[=(2)(5): 433-448 (page 442, worker described)
Emery, C. 1901b. Notes sur les sous-familles des Dorylines et Ponérines (Famille des Formicides). Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 45: 32-54 (page 45, Combination in Pachycondyla (Bothroponera))
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).
Ito F & Higashi S. 1991. A linear dominance hierarchy regulating reproduction and polyethism of the queenless ant Pachycondyla sublaevis. Naturwissenschaften 78: 80–82.
Peeters, C., S. Higashi & F. Ito 1991. Reproduction in ponerine ants without queens: monogyny and exceptionally small colonies in the Australian Pachycondyla sublaevis. Ethology, Ecology & Evolution, 3: 145-152.
Rodrigues, M.S., Vilela, E.F., Azevedo, D.O., Hora, R.R. 2011. Multiple queens in founding colonies of the neotropical ant Pachycondyla striata Smith (Formicidae: Ponerinae). Neotropical Entomology 40, 293–299 (doi:10.1590/s1519-566x2011000300001).
Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa 3817, 1–242 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1).
Taylor, R. W.; Brown, D. R. 1985. Formicoidea. Zool. Cat. Aust. 2:1- 149: 1-149, 30 (page 22, Combination in Bothroponera)
Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1952c. The ant larvae of the subfamily Ponerinae - Part II. Am. Midl. Nat. 48: 604-672 (page 621, larva described)
Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1971c. The larvae of the ant genus Bothroponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 73: 386-394 (page 387, larva described)
Wheeler, W. M. 1918c. A study of some ant larvae, with a consideration of the origin and meaning of the social habit among insects. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 57: 293-343 (page 299, larva described)