Amblyopone ferruginea

Amblyopone ferruginea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Amblyoponinae
Tribe:	Amblyoponini
Genus:	Amblyopone
Species:	A. ferruginea
Binomial name
Amblyopone ferruginea Smith, F., 1858 Specimen labels
Synonyms
Amblyopone mandibularis Clark, 1928

Photo Gallery

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  Amblyopone ferruginea with mite. Blackburn Lake, Victoria, Australia. Photo by Nick Porch.

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -37.63333893° to -37.95°.

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.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0102191. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Worker. Specimen code casent0102192. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Worker. Specimen code casent0172197. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Worker. Specimen code casent0102522. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0101442. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MNHN, Paris, France.

Nomenclature

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

• ferruginea. Amblyopone ferruginea Smith, F. 1858b: 110 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
  • Type-material: 2 syntype workers.
  • [Note: Bolton (unpublished notes) 1978, cites 2w syntypes BMNH).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Melbourne, “56/120” (Merry Merry Creek) (no collector’s name).
  • [Notes (i): “56/120.” BMNH Accessions Register gives: “1856 no. 120 (Sept 26). Melbourne. Merry Merry Creek. Bought of Stevens.”; (ii) OXUM has a worker from Adelaide, not type-material (Bolton (unpublished notes) 1978).]
  • Type-depository: BMNH.
  • André, 1896b: 261 (q.).
  • Combination in Stigmatomma: Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012a: 19;
  • combination in Amblyopone: Ward & Fisher, 2016: 691.
  • Status as species: Roger, 1861a: 49; Roger, 1863b: 20; Mayr, 1863: 394; Mayr, 1886c: 359; Dalla Torre, 1893: 13; André, 1896b: 261; Emery, 1911d: 26; Poulton & Crawley, 1922: 120; Clark, 1925b: 138; Wheeler, W.M. 1927c: 20 (redescription); Brown, 1952i: 265; Brown, 1960a: 168, 206; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 19; Taylor, 1987a: 6; Bolton, 1995b: 62.
  • Senior synonym of mandibularis: Brown, 1952i: 265; Brown, 1960a: 168; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 19; Taylor, 1987a: 6; Bolton, 1995b: 62.
  • Distribution: Australia.
• mandibularis. Amblyopone mandibularis Clark, 1928a: 33, pl. 1, figs. 12-15 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “a small colony”).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Victoria, Belgrave (F.E. Wilson).
  • [Note: the original description cites material from “Victoria, Altona (F.P. Spry), Belgrave (F.E. Wilson), Eltham (J.E. Dixon), Cheltenham (C. Barrett & L.B. Thorn)”, but Clark says the species was “described from a small colony from Belgrave”; hence Belgrave is the type-locality (Brown, 1952i: 265 (in text)).]
  • Type-depositories: MCZC, MVMA.
  • Junior synonym of ferruginea: Brown, 1952i: 265; Brown, 1960a: 168; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 19; Taylor, 1987a: 6; Bolton, 1995b: 62.

Type Material

• Amblyopone ferruginea: Syntype, 2 workers, Merry Merry Creek, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 56/120, Acc. Reg.: "1856 no. 120 (Sept 26)", The Natural History Museum.
• Amblyopone mandibularis: Syntype, 1 worker, Belgrave, Victoria, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Amblyopone mandibularis: Syntype, 2 workers, Belgrave, Victoria, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.

The following notes on F. Smith type specimens have been provided by Barry Bolton (details):

Amblyopone ferruginea

Two worker syntypes in The Natural History Museum. Labelled “Melbourne,” and “56/120.” Acc. Reg.: “1856 no. 120 (Sept 26). Melbourne. Merry Merry Creek. Bought of Stevens.”

Oxford University Museum of Natural History has a worker from Adelaide, not type-material.

References

• André, E. 1896b. Liste des Hyménoptères appartenant aux familles des Formicides et des Mutillides recueillis au Siam et au Cambodge et offerts au Muséum par M. Pavie. Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. 2: 261-262 (page 261, queen described)
• Brown, W. L., Jr. (1952). The status of some Australian Amblyopone species (Hym.: Formicidae). Entomological News, 63: 265–267.
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1960a. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. III. Tribe Amblyoponini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 122: 143-230 (page 206, see also)
• Clark, J. (1928). 4.- Australian Formicidae. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 14: 29–41.
• Smith, F. (1858). Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part 6. Formicidae. London : British Museum. pp. 1–216.
• Ward, P.S. & Fisher, B.L. 2016. Tales of dracula ants: the evolutionary history of the ant subfamily Amblyoponinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology, 41, 683–693 (doi:10.1111/syen.12186).
• Yoshimura, M. & Fisher, B.L. 2012. A revision of male ants of the Malagasy Amblyoponinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with resurrections of the genera Stigmatomma and Xymmer. PLoS ONE 7(3):e33325 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033325).