Lioponera clarki

Lioponera clarki
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dorylinae
Genus:	Lioponera
Species:	L. clarki
Binomial name
	Lioponera clarki; (Crawley, 1922) Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Phyracaces castaneus Clark, 1924;

Brown (1975) - In Australia, a raid of L. clarki was observed in 1951 in open eucalypt woodland at Berrimah, near Darwin, Northern Territory, over bare soil against a nest of a small Iridomyrmex in bright morning sunlight. This raid was very loose and involved only 3 or 4 Lioponera workers while I watched it, so it may have been the final stages of an action begun much earlier.

Identification

Heterick (2009) - Lioponera clarki is distinguished by the lack of a dorsolateral cephalic carina curving towards the eye, lack of ocelli and a wide node with posterior angles that in dorsal view extend laterally beyond its anterior margin.

Keys including this Species

Key to Lioponera of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - A predominantly sand-plain species that is also found in the NT and drier areas of south-eastern Australia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -21.7° to -31.88333°.


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

Images from AntWeb


Syntype of Phyracaces castaneus. Worker. Specimen code casent0902751. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.


Specimen code casent0902750. .

Nomenclature

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

clarki. Phyracaces clarki Crawley, 1922b: 433 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “a small colony”).
- Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Darlington, no. 9 (J. Clark).
- Type-depository: OXUM.
- Combination in Cerapachys: Brown, 1975: 22;
- combination in Lioponera: Borowiec, M.L. 2016: 163.
- Status as species: Brown, 1975: 22, 66; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 24; Taylor, 1987a: 17; Bolton, 1995b: 142; Heterick, 2009: 128.
- Senior synonym of castaneus: Brown, 1975: 22; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 24; Taylor, 1987a: 17; Bolton, 1995b: 142.
- Distribution: Australia.
castaneus. Phyracaces castaneus Clark, 1924b: 79, pl. 7, figs. 7-14 (w.q.m.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: syntype worker, syntype queens, syntype males (numbers not stated, “Described from a colony containing workers, females, males, and two pseudogynes”).
- Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Hovea (J. Clark).
- Type-depository: MVMA.
- Junior synonym of clarki: Brown, 1975: 22; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 24; Taylor, 1987a: 17; Bolton, 1995b: 142.

Type Material

Phyracaces castaneus: Syntype, 2 workers, Hovea, Western Australia, Australia, Australian Museum.
Phyracaces castaneus: Syntype, 1 worker, Hovea, Western Australia, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-053477, Australian National Insect Collection.
Phyracaces castaneus: Syntype, 5 workers, 1 male, Hovea, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Phyracaces castaneus: Syntype, worker(s), quee(s), male(s), Hovea, Western Australia, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
Phyracaces castaneus: Syntype, 1 worker, Hovea, Western Australia, Australia, Queensland Museum.
Phyracaces castaneus: Syntype, 1 worker, Hovea, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.
Phyracaces clarki: Syntype, 6 workers, Darlington, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Phyracaces clarki: Syntype, worker(s), Darlington, Western Australia, Australia, Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Description

References

Borowiec, M.L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1-280 (doi: 10.3897/zookeys.608.9427).
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1975. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. V. Ponerinae, tribes Platythyreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search Agric. (Ithaca N. Y.) 5(1 1: 1-115 (page 22, Combination in Cerapachys, and senior synonym of castaneus)
Clark, J. (1924). Australian Formicidae. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 10: 75–89.
Crawley, W. C. 1922a. New ants from Australia. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 9(9): 427-448. (page 433, worker described)
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. 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., 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.