Mesoponera ambigua

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Mesoponera ambigua
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Mesoponera
Species: M. ambigua
Binomial name
Mesoponera ambigua
(André, 1890)

Pachycondyla ambigua blf1862(05)-9 profile 1.jpg

Pachycondyla ambigua blf1862(05)-9 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 17.266667° to -30.5°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Comoros, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone (type locality), Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen.
Malagasy Region: Madagascar, Mayotte.

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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.
pChart

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.
pChart

Biology

Castes

MCZ-ENT00515740 Pachycondyla ambigua hef.jpgMCZ-ENT00515740 Pachycondyla ambigua hal.jpgMCZ-ENT00515740 Pachycondyla ambigua had.jpgMCZ-ENT00515740 Pachycondyla ambigua lbs.JPG
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Pachycondyla ambigua casent0006209 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0006209 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0006209 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0006209 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0006209. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0101470 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0101470 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0101470 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0101470 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0101470. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MNHN, Paris, France.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0102405 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0102405 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0102405 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0102405 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0102405. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0132515 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0132515 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0132515 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0132515 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0132515. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0133057 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133057 head 2.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133057 profile 2.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133057 profile 3.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133057 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133057 label 1.jpg
Male (alate). Specimen code casent0133057. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0133363 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133363 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133363 profile 2.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133363 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133363 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0133363. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0133365 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133365 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133365 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0133365 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0133365. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0441714 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0441714 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0441714 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0441714 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0441714. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pachycondyla ambigua casent0484649 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0484649 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0484649 profile 2.jpgPachycondyla ambigua casent0484649 dorsal 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0484649. Photographer Jean Claude Rakotonirina, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pachycondyla ambigua sam-hym-c007969 head 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua sam-hym-c007969 profile 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua sam-hym-c007969 dorsal 1.jpgPachycondyla ambigua sam-hym-c007969 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code sam-hym-c007969. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by SAMC, Cape Town, South Africa.

Phylogeny

Ponerinae

Platythyrea  (40 species, 6 fossil species)

Pachycondyla group
⊞(show genera)
Ponera group
⊞(show genera)

Harpegnathos  (13 species, 0 fossil species)

Hypoponera  (177 species, 1 fossil species)

Plectroctena group
⊞(show genera)
Odontomachus group
⊞(show taxa)

See Phylogeny of Ponerinae for details.

Nomenclature

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

  • ambigua. Pachycondyla ambigua André, 1890: 316 (q.) SIERRA LEONE.
    • Type-material: holotype queen.
    • Type-locality: Sierra Leone: (no further data).
    • Type-depository: MNHN.
    • Combination in Euponera (Brachyponera): Emery, 1901a: 47;
    • combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 302;
    • combination in Mesoponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 110.
    • Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 32; Emery, 1901a: 49; Emery, 1911d: 84; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 777; Collingwood, 1985: 240; Bolton, 1995b: 302; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 310; Collingwood & van Harten, 2005: 74; Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 220; Borowiec, L. 2014: 141.
    • Distribution: Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Iran, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Yemen.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 3: 5-16.
  • Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 3: 5-16.
  • Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
  • Emery C. 1911. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125.
  • Fisher B. L. 1997. Biogeography and ecology of the ant fauna of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 31: 269-302.
  • Fisher B. L. 2003. Formicidae, ants. Pp. 811-819 in: Goodman, S. M.; Benstead, J. P. (eds.) 2003. The natural history of Madagascar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, xxi + 1709 pp.
  • Fisher B. L. 2004. Diversity patterns of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an elevational gradient on Monts Doudou in southwestern Gabon. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 28: 269-286.
  • Fisher, B. 2002. Ant diversity patterns along an elevational gradient in the Reserve Speciale de Manongarivo, Madagascar. in Gautier, L. and S.M. Goodman, editors, Inventaire Florestique et Faunistique de la Reserve Speciale de Manongarivo (NW Madagascar)
  • Fisher, B.L. and H.G. Robertson. 2002. Comparison and Origin of Forest and Grassland Ant Assemblages in the High Plateau of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Biotropica 34(1):155-167.
  • Garcia F.H., Wiesel E. and Fischer G. 2013.The Ants of Kenya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)—Faunal Overview, First Species Checklist, Bibliography, Accounts for All Genera, and Discussion on Taxonomy and Zoogeography. Journal of East African Natural History, 101(2): 127-222
  • IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
  • Kone M., S. Konate, K. Yeo, P. K. Kouassi, and K. E. Linsenmair. 2012. Changes in ant communities along an age gradient of cocoa cultivation in the Oumé region, central Côte d’Ivoire. Entomological Science 15: 324–339.
  • Kouakou L. M. M., K. Yeo, K. Ouattara, W. Dekoninck, T. Delsinne, and S. Konate. 2018. Investigating urban ant community (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in port cities and in major towns along the border in Côte d’Ivoire: a rapid assessment to detect potential introduced invasive ant species. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 36(1): 5793-5811.
  • Kouakou L. M. M., W. Dekoninck, M. Kone, T. Delsinne, K. Yeo, K. Ouattara, and S. Konate. 2018. Diversity and distribution of introduced and potentially invasive ant species from the three main ecoregions of Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa). Belgian Journal of Zoology 148 (1): 83–103.
  • Lévieux J. 1972. Les fourmis de la savane de Lamto (Côte d'Ivoire): éléments de taxonomie. Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire. Série A. Sciences Naturelles 34: 611-654.
  • Medler J. T. 1980: Insects of Nigeria - Check list and bibliography. Mem. Amer. Ent. Inst. 30: i-vii, 1-919.
  • Ravelomanana A., and B. L. Fisher. 2013. Diversity of ants in burned and unburned grassland , and dry deciduous forest in the Beanka Reserve, Melaky Region, western Madagascar. Malagasy Nature 7: 171-183.
  • Ross S. R. P. J., F. Hita Garcia, G. Fischer, and M. K. Peters. 2018. Selective logging intensity in an East African rain forest predicts reductions in ant diversity. Biotropica 1-11.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004
  • Yeo K., S. Konate, S. Tiho, and S. K. Camara. 2011. Impacts of land use types on ant communities in a tropical forest margin (Oumé - Cote d'Ivoire). African Journal of Agricultural Research 6(2): 260-274.
  • Yeo K., and A. Hormenyo. 2007. A Rapid Survey of Ants in Ajenjua Bepo and Mamang River Forest Reserves, Eastern Region of Ghana. Pp 27-29. In McCullough, J., P. Hoke, P. Naskrecki, and Y. Osei-Owusu (eds.). 2008. A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Ajenjua Bepo and Mamang River Forest Reserves, Ghana. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 50. Conservation International, Arlington, VA, USA.