Myrmecia desertorum

Myrmecia desertorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species:	M. desertorum
Binomial name
Myrmecia desertorum Wheeler, W.M., 1915 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Myrmecia lutea Crawley, 1922 Myrmecia princeps Clark, 1951

Heterick (2009) - These ants are visual predators. Typical encounters with even a solitary forager shows that they are a formidable and aggressive species. Nest workers are also always ready to rush out of their mound to attack an intruder. Myrmecia desertorum is possibly the most common bulldog ant in the SWBP. Their nest mounds may be huge, up to 2 m in diameter (Ogata and Taylor 1991).

Photo Gallery

• 

  Worker from Uluru, Northern Territory. Photo by Steve Shattuck.
• 

  Queen from South Australia. Photo by Mark Newton.
• 

  Queen from South Australia. Photo by Mark Newton.
• 

  Queen from South Australia. Photo by Mark Newton.
• 

  Myrmecia desertorum from Wandoo National Park, Flynn, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari, 4 June 2011.

Identification

Myrmecia desertorum, Myrmecia fuscipes, Myrmecia gratiosa, Myrmecia nigriceps and Myrmecia vindex are all large to very large, reddish ants with red, brown or black heads and a black gaster.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Myrmecia Species
• Key to Myrmecia of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -14.8° to -35.08332825°.

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

Workers forage during the day, making them an obvious component of the Australian Arid Zone. As with all species of Myrmecia, these are highly visual and aggressive ants, detecting intruders and threats from some distance away, turning towards them and either attaching or retreating, depending primarily on the proximity to the nest (the closer the nest the more aggressive these ants are).

Association with Other Organisms

• This species is a host for the cricket Myrmecophilus testaceus (a myrmecophile) in Australia.

Nomenclature

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

• desertorum. Myrmecia vindex var. desertorum Wheeler, W.M. 1915g: 805 (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
  • Type-material: 4 syntype workers.
  • Type-locality: Australia: South Australia, Todmorden (W.M. Wheeler).
  • Type-depository: MCZC.
  • Clark, 1925b: 144 (q.m.).
  • Subspecies of vindex: Clark, 1925b: 143.
  • Status as species: Clark, 1928c: 39; Clark, 1930c: 22; Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 40; Clark, 1951: 59 (redescription); Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata, 1991a: 358; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1637 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 271; Heterick, 2009: 121.
  • Senior synonym of lutea: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • Senior synonym of princeps: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • Distribution: Australia.
• lutea. Myrmecia lutea Crawley, 1922b: 429 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Ludlow, nos 2, 5 (J. Clark).
  • Type-depository: NHMB, OXUM.
  • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 61.
  • Junior synonym of desertorum: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
• princeps. Myrmecia princeps Clark, 1951: 46, fig. 24 (w.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
  • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: holotype Australia: South Australia, Tarcoola (K. Millar); paratypes with same data.
  • Type-depository: ANIC.
  • Junior synonym of desertorum: Brown, 1953j: 25; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 273.

Type Material

• Myrmecia lutea: Syntype, 2 workers, Ludlow, Western Australia, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-006188, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia lutea: Syntype, 1 worker, Darlington, Western Australia, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-006189, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia lutea: Syntype, 1 worker, Darlington, Western Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Myrmecia lutea: Syntype, worker(s), Ludlow, Western Australia, Australia, Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
• Myrmecia princeps: Holotype, worker, Tarcoola, South Australia, Australia, Millar,K., ANIC32-015322, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia princeps: Paratype, 1 worker, Tarcoola, South Australia, Australia, Millar,K., ANIC32-006187, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia vindex desertorum: Syntype, 1 worker, Todmorden, South Australia, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Myrmecia vindex desertorum: Syntype, 1 worker, Todmorden, South Australia, Australia, South Australian Museum.

References

• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1953j. Revisionary notes on the ant genus Myrmecia of Australia. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology

111: 1-35 (page 25, senior synonym of lutea and princeps)

• Clark, J. 1925b. The ants of Victoria. Part II. Vic. Nat. (Melb.) 42: 135-144 (page 144, queen, male described)
• Clark, J. 1930c. New Formicidae, with notes on some little-known species. Proc. R. Soc. Vic. (n.s.) 43: 2-25 (page 22, raised to species)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
• 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).
• Wheeler, W. M. 1915h. Hymenoptera. [In "Scientific notes on an expedition into the north-western regions of South Australia".]. Trans. R. Soc. S. Aust. 39: 805-823 (page 805, worker described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Brown W. L., Jr. 1953. Revisionary notes on the ant genus Myrmecia of Australia. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology

111: 1-35.

• Clark J. 1925. The ants of Victoria. Part II. Victorian Naturalist (Melbourne) 42: 135-144.
• Gunawardene N.R. and J.D. Majer. 2004. Ants of the southern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: an investigation into patterns of association. Records of the Western Australian Museum 22: 219-239.
• Heterick B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 76: 1-206. 
• Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.