Iridomyrmex agilis

Iridomyrmex agilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Tribe:	Leptomyrmecini
Genus:	Iridomyrmex
Species:	I. agilis
Binomial name
	Iridomyrmex agilis; Forel, 1907

Iridomyrmex agilis is typically found in drier regions, where workers forage singly along well defined but indistinct paths across the ground, scurrying quickly with their gasters raised. It shows a preference for open ground rather than forested areas.

Identification

Iridomyrmex agilis can be distinguished from most other Iridomyrmex species by its elongate form, long head, which, in full-face view, is broader at and just above the eyes, and the distinctive, spur-like anteromedial clypeal prominence. Its near relative, Iridomyrmex rubriceps, can be separated from I. agilis by the contrasting colour of its head and pronotum compared with its mesonotum and propodeum (the former parts are of uniform colouration with the rest of the mesosoma in I. agilis). Iridomyrmex bicknelli is also similar, but has a slightly differently shaped head, and the hind femora are shorter in relation to the mesosoma.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -19.311143° to -37°.


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

Castes

Worker


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Nomenclature

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

agilis. Iridomyrmex agilis Forel, 1907h: 295 (w.) AUSTRALIA. See also: Heterick & Shattuck, 2011: 37.

Type Material

Syntype, 1 worker (missing petiole and gaster), Yalgoo, Western Australia, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
Syntype, 1 worker (missing petiole and gaster), Yalgoo, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Syntype, 2 workers (1 missing petiole and gaster), Yalgoo, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
Syntype, 1 worker (missing petiole and gaster), Yalgoo, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.

Description

Worker Description. Head. Posterior margin of head strongly convex; erect setae on posterior margin in full- face view set in a row; sides of head convergent anteriad; erect genal setae present on sides of head in full-face view, or absent from sides of head in full-face view (one to a few small setae may be present near mandibular insertion). Ocelli absent; in full-face view, eyes set at about midpoint of head capsule; in profile, eye set anteriad of head capsule; eye semi-circular. Frontal carinae straight; antennal scape surpassing posterior margin of head by 0.2-0.5 x its length. Erect setae on scape absent, except at tip; prominence on anteromedial clypeal margin projecting as triangular spur; mandible elongate triangular with oblique basal margin; long, curved setae on venter of head capsule absent. Mesosoma. Pronotum weakly undulant or almost straight. Erect pronotal setae numerous (12 or more), short and bristly. Mesonotum sinuous. Erect mesonotal setae moderate in number (6-12), short and bristly. Mesothoracic spiracles prominent or inconspicuous; propodeal dorsum smoothly and evenly convex; placement of propodeal spiracle posteriad and near propodeal declivity, or mesad, more than its diameter away from propodeal declivity; propodeal angle weakly present or absent, the confluence of the dorsal and declivitous propodeal faces indicated, if at all, by an undulation. Erect propodeal setae moderate in number (6-12), short and bristly. Petiole. Dorsum of node convex, or planar; node thin, scale-like, orientation more-or-less vertical, or thick, orientation more-or-less vertical. Gaster. Non-marginal erect setae of gaster present on first gastral tergite; marginal erect setae of gaster present on first tergite, or absent on first tergite. General characters. Allometric differences between workers of same nest absent. Colour of foreparts variable, from light-yellow-orange to dark purple with iridescence ranging from very pale pink or yellowish to blue, legs brown with weak bluish iridescence, gaster dark brown. Colour of erect setae pale, whitish.

Measurements. Worker (n = 5)—CI 78–81; EI 24–26; EL 0.31–0.34; EW 0.25–0.27; HFL 2.44–2.93; HL 1.56–1.70; HW 1.26–1.33; ML 2.11–2.3 1; MTL 1.72–2.20; PpH 0.22–0.25; PpL 0.79–0.86; SI 118–137; SL 1.55– 1.75.

References

Forel, A. 1907j. Formicidae. In: Michaelsen, W., Hartmeyer, R. (eds.) Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Band I, Lieferung 7. Jena: Gustav Fischer, pp. 263-310. (page 295, worker described)
Heterick, B.E. & Shattuck, S.O. 2011. Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 2845: 1-175.
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).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Heterick B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 76: 1-206.
Heterick B. E. 2013. A taxonomic overview and key to the ants of Barrow Island, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 83: 375-404.
Heterick B. E., B. Durrant, and N. R. Gunawardene. 2010. The ant fauna of the Pilbara Bioregion, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 78: 157-167.
Heterick B. E., and S. Shattuck. 2011. Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 2845: 1-174.
Heterick, B., and S. O. Shattuck. "Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Zootaxa 2845 (2011): 1-174.