Mayriella abstinens

Mayriella abstinens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Mayriella
Species:	M. abstinens
Binomial name
	Mayriella abstinens; Forel, 1902 Specimen Label
Synonyms
	Mayriella abstinens hackeri Wheeler, W.M., 1935; Mayriella abstinens venustula Wheeler, W.M., 1935;

Nests are found mainly in soil, either in the open or between rocks, and they have been found nesting within the mounds of Myrmecia auriventris, Myrmecia brevinoda and Myrmecia flavicoma and Pseudoneoponera mayri. They also nest arboreally under dead bark and in rotten wood on the ground. Workers forage on the ground (where they are often found in leaf litter samples) as well as arboreally.

At a Glance

• Limited invasive

Identification

This taxon can be separated from other Australian species of this genus by the presence of well developed sculpturing in the posterior section of the scrobe, the large, closely spaced pits on the mesosomal dorsum, and the parallel lateral surfaces of the postpetiole. It can be separated from the south-east Asian Mayriella transfuga by the less angular petiolar node and more heavily sculptured postpetiole. M. abstinens shows considerable variation in several morphological traits. The most obvious of these include the overall body color and the length of the propodeal spines. The body color varies from uniform light yellow to uniform dark brown, as well as bicolored dark yellow and dark brown. The propodeal spines vary in shape from short and triangular to elongate and thin. (Shattuck and Barnett 2007)

Identification Keys including this Taxon

Key to Australian Mayriella species.

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -15.0666666° to -36.25194°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality), New Zealand.
Oriental Region: Nepal.

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.

Elevation Range

Occurrence at collecting sites during elevational surveys of rainforest in the Eungella region, Queensland, Australia (Burwell et al., 2020).
Species	Elevation (m asl)
Species	200	400	600	800	1000	1200
Mayriella abstinens	40-50	20-30	10-20
Shading indicates the bands of elevation where species was recorded. Numbers are the percentage of total samples containing this species.

Habitat

This species has been collected in habitats ranging from dry sclerophyll woodlands (less commonly) to rainforests (more commonly), and once in a garden.

Biology

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb


Worker. Specimen code casent0172349. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Queen

Images from AntWeb


Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0172348. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Male

Images from AntWeb


Male (alate). Specimen code casent0172350. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Nomenclature

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

abstinens. Mayriella abstinens Forel, 1902h: 452 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
- Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Mackay (Turner).
- Type-depositories: MCZC, MHNG.
- Imai, Crozier & Taylor, 1977: 349 (k.).
- Status as species: Emery, 1924d: 223; Wheeler, W.M. 1935e: 154 (redescription); Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 103; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 65; Taylor, 1987a: 37; Taylor, 1991b: 602; Bolton, 1995b: 249; Shattuck & Barnett, 2007: 441 (redescription); Don, 2007: 98; Shattuck, 2007: 51 (in key).
- Senior synonym of hackeri: Shattuck & Barnett, 2007: 441.
- Senior synonym of venustula: Shattuck & Barnett, 2007: 441.
- Distribution: Australia.
hackeri. Mayriella abstinens subsp. hackeri Wheeler, W.M. 1935e: 157, fig. 1d-e (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
- Type-material: 4 syntype workers, 6 syntype queens.
- Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, nr Brisbane, 20.vii.1915 (H. Hacker).
- Type-depository: MCZC.
- Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1973a: 36 (l.).
- Subspecies of abstinens: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 66; Taylor, 1987a: 37.
- Status as species: Taylor, 1991b: 602 (in text); Bolton, 1995b: 249.
- Junior synonym of abstinens: Shattuck & Barnett, 2007: 441.
venustula. Mayriella abstinens subsp. venustula Wheeler, W.M. 1935e: 158 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
- Type-material: holotype worker.
- Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Mt Tambourine (A.M. Lea).
- Type-depository: MCZC.
- Subspecies of abstinens: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 66; Taylor, 1987a: 37.
- Status as species: Taylor, 1991b: 602 (in text); Bolton, 1995b: 249.
- Junior synonym of abstinens: Shattuck & Barnett, 2007: 441.

Type Material

Holotype, worker, Tamborine Mt. (as Mt. Tambourine), Queensland, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Syntype, 1 worker, Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Syntype, 4 workers, 6 queens, near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Syntype, worker(s), Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.

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

Description

Worker

Shattuck and Barnett (2007) - Sculpturing in posterior section of antennal scrobe well developed and distinct; sculpturing on dorsal surface of mesosoma consisting of large, closely spaced pits (or rarely smaller and more widely spaced); propodeal spines varying from short and triangular to elongate and thin; dorsal surface of petiole in lateral profile uniformly convex, without distinct dorsal and posterior faces and forming an obtuse angle with the anterior face; in dorsal view, postpetiole with the anterior and posterior regions approximately the same width (the region connecting them either flat or weakly convex); postpetiole and gaster lacking erect hairs dorsally.

Measurements. Worker (n = 10): CI 0.89-0.97; HL 0.42-0.57; HTL 0.23-0.32; HW 0.39-0.50; ML 0.42-0.57; PW 0.29-0.37; SI 0.58-0.73; SL 0.24-0.36.

Karyotype

See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.

Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

2n = 18 (Australia) (Imai et al., 1977).

References

Burwell, C.J., Nakamura, A. 2020. Rainforest ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an elevational gradient at Eungella in the Clarke Range, Central Queensland coast, Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 125: 43-63.
Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
Forel, A. 1902j. Fourmis nouvelles d'Australie. Rev. Suisse Zool. 10: 405-548 (page 452, worker described)
Imai, H. T.; Crozier, R. H.; Taylor, R. W. 1977. Karyotype evolution in Australian ants. Chromosoma (Berl.) 59: 341-393 (page 349, karyotype described)
Kugler, C. 1997. Stings of some species of Lordomyrma and Mayriella (Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Insecta Mundi 11, 193-199.
Shattuck, S.O. & Barnett, N.J. 2007. Revision of the ant genus Mayriella (pp. 437-458). In Snelling, R.R., Fisher, B.L. & Ward, P.S. (eds). Advances in ant systematics: homage to E.O. Wilson – 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80:690 pp.
Subedi, I.P., Budha, P.B., Bharti, H., Alonso, L. 2020. An updated checklist of Nepalese ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1006, 99–136 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1006.58808).
Wheeler, W. M. 1935e. The Australian ant genus Mayriella Forel. Psyche (Camb.) 42: 151-160 (page 151, (footnote) senior synonym of overbecki)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

CSIRO Collection
Shattuck S. O., N. J. Barnett. 2007. Revision of the ant genus Mayriella. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80: 437-458.
Taylor R. W. 1991. Nomenclature and distribution of some Australasian ants of the Myrmicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 30: 599-614.