Myrmecia esuriens

Myrmecia esuriens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species group:	gulosa
Species:	M. esuriens
Binomial name
Myrmecia esuriens Fabricius, 1804 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Myrmecia tasmaniensis Smith, F., 1858 Myrmecia walkeri Forel, 1893

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Myrmecia Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -41.08200987° to -43.41666667°.

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.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Myrmecia walkeri. Worker. Specimen code casent0907077. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Phylogeny

Myrmecia

gulosa group Myrmecia esuriens Myrmecia midas Myrmecia pulchra Myrmecia mjobergi Myrmecia regularis Myrmecia forficata Myrmecia brevinoda Myrmecia erecta Myrmecia pyriformis Myrmecia browningi Myrmecia sp. Myrmecia analis Myrmecia minuscula Myrmecia comata Myrmecia rowlandi Myrmecia flavicoma Myrmecia tarsata Myrmecia tridentata Myrmecia eungellensis Myrmecia fabricii Myrmecia athertonensis Myrmecia auriventris Myrmecia borealis Myrmecia gulosa Myrmecia forceps Myrmecia simillima Myrmecia arnoldi Myrmecia fulgida Myrmecia pavida Myrmecia vindex Myrmecia fuscipes Myrmecia (near nigriceps) Myrmecia desertorum Myrmecia nigriceps Myrmecia nigriceps Myrmecia inquilina nigrocincta group Myrmecia flammicollis Myrmecia petiolata Myrmecia nigrocincta picta group Myrmecia fucosa Myrmecia picta Myrmecia infima Myrmecia urens apicalis group Myrmecia apicalis pilosula group Myrmecia testaceipes Myrmecia acuta Myrmecia chasei Myrmecia clarki Myrmecia dispar Myrmecia occidentalis Myrmecia tepperi Myrmecia elegans Myrmecia varians Myrmecia banksi Myrmecia croslandi Myrmecia impaternata Myrmecia haskinsorum Myrmecia pilosula Myrmecia pilosula Myrmecia (near pilosula)

Based on Mera-Rodríguez et al. (2023).

Nomenclature

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

• esuriens. Myrmecia esuriens Fabricius, 1804: 424 (w.) French Guiana.
  • Type-material: holotype (?) worker.
  • [Note: no indication of number of specimens is given.]
  • Type-locality: French Guiana: Cayenne.
  • [Note: type-locality corrected to Australia by Roger, 1861a: 35.]
  • Type-depository: “whereabouts unknown”, according to Taylor & Brown, 1985: 5.
  • [Note: Fabricius material is mostly in ZMUC; Banks material described by Fabricius is in BMNH. According to Horn & Kahle, 1935: 71, other material exists in OXUM, MNHN, and in very badly damaged condition in ZMUK.]
  • Clark, 1934a: 16 (ergatoid q. m.).
  • Status as species: Roger, 1861a: 35; Mayr, 1862: 727 (in key); Roger, 1863b: 22; Mayr, 1863: 430; Mayr, 1876: 94; Emery, 1887b: 443; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Emery, 1911d: 20; Forel, 1913g: 173; Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 31; Clark, 1934a: 16 (redescription); Clark, 1951: 84 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata, 1991a: 358; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1633 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • Senior synonym of tasmaniensis: Roger, 1861a: 35; Roger, 1863b: 22; Mayr, 1863: 430; Mayr, 1876: 94; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Emery, 1911d: 20; Clark, 1934a: 16; Clark, 1951: 84; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • Senior synonym of walkeri: Emery, 1911d: 20; Clark, 1934a: 16; Clark, 1951: 84; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 9; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
  • Distribution: Australia.
• tasmaniensis. Myrmecia tasmaniensis Smith, F. 1858b: 147 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Tasmania).
  • Type-material: holotype worker.
  • Type-locality: Australia: Tasmania.
  • Type-depository: BMNH.
  • Junior synonym of esuriens: Roger, 1861a: 35; Roger, 1863b: 22; Mayr, 1863: 430; Mayr, 1876: 94; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Emery, 1911d: 20; Clark, 1934a: 16; Clark, 1951: 84; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 8; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 273.
• walkeri. Myrmecia walkeri Forel, 1893d: 456 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Tasmania). Holo. w. ANIC
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Tasmania, Hobart (J.J. Walker).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • Junior synonym of esuriens: Emery, 1911d: 20; Clark, 1934a: 16; Clark, 1951: 84; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 9; Taylor, 1987a: 42; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1628; Bolton, 1995b: 273.

Type Material

• Myrmecia esuriens: Syntype, 2 workers, Récherche Bay (probably), Tasmania, Australia, 1791, Zoological Museum of University of Kiel.
• Myrmecia tasmaniensis Smith, 1858: Syntype, worker(s), Tasmania, Australia, The Natural History Museum.
• Myrmecia walkeri Forel, 1893: Syntype, 2 workers, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.

The following notes on F. Smith type specimens have been provided by Barry Bolton (details):

Myrmecia tasmaniensis

Holotype worker in The Natural History Museum. Labelled only “tasmaniensis Sm. type.”

References

• Clark, J. 1934a. Notes on Australian ants, with descriptions of new species and a new genus. Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 8: 5-20 (page 16, queen, male described)
• Clark, J. 1934a. Notes on Australian ants, with descriptions of new species and a new genus. Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 8: 5-20 (page 16, Senior synonym of walkeri)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
• Emery, C. 1911e. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125 (page 20, Senior synonym of walkeri)
• Fabricius, J. C. 1804. Systema Piezatorum secundum ordines, genera, species, adjectis synonymis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus. Brunswick: C. Reichard, xiv + 15-439 + 30 pp. (page 424, worker described)
• Mera-Rodríguez, D., Jourdan, H., Ward, P.S., Shattuck, S., Cover, S.P., Wilson, E.O., Rabeling, C. 2023. Biogeography and evolution of social parasitism in Australian Myrmecia bulldog ants revealed by phylogenomics. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 186, 107825 (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107825).
• Roger, J. 1861a. Die Ponera-artigen Ameisen (Schluss). Berl. Entomol. Z. 5: 1-54 (page 35, Senior synonym of tasmaniensis)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• CSIRO Collection
• Emery C. 1911. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125.
• Forel A. 1893. Nouvelles fourmis d'Australie et des Canaries. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 37: 454-466.
• Forel A. 1913. Fourmis de Tasmanie et d'Australie récoltées par MM. Lae, Froggatt etc. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 49: 173-195
• Lowery B. B., and R. J. Taylor. 1994. Occurrence of ant species in a range of sclerophyll forest communities at Old Chum Dam, north-eastern Tasmania. Australian Entomologist 21: 11-14.
• 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.
• Taylor R. W., and D. R. Brown. 1985. Formicoidea. Zoological Catalogue of Australia 2: 1-149.