Myrmecia infima

Myrmecia infima
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species group:	urens
Species:	M. infima
Binomial name
Myrmecia infima Forel, 1900 Specimen Labels

Several workers swept from flowers by Dr. Darlington and myself near Government House (X. 21, '31, and X. 22, '31) and White Hill (X. 23, '31). According to Clark, who records this diminutive bull-dog ant from Rottnest Island, it occurs along the West Australian coast from Geraldton to Albany. I have taken it at Geraldton, in King's Park, Perth, and at Margaret River, always on flowers or foliage, but have never been able to find its nest. (Wheeler 1934)

Identification

Heterick (2009) - The taxonomy of the M. urens species-group is problematic, and most named taxa (including Myrmecia infima described from Perth, and Myrmecia nigra, described from East Fremantle) cannot be identified with any confidence based on morphological characters. However, possibly three species from this group are represented in the SWBP.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Myrmecia of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -29.88333333° to -35°.

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.

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.

• infima. Myrmecia picta var. infima Forel, 1900b: 54 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: holotype worker.
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Perth (Chase).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • Clark, 1943: 105 (q.m.).
  • Combination in M. (Promyrmecia): Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 62;
  • combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 105;
  • combination in Myrmecia: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 11.
  • Subspecies of picta: Emery, 1911d: 21.
  • Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 62; Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 139; Clark, 1934a: 14; Clark, 1943: 105 (redescription); Clark, 1951: 192 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 11; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata, 1991a: 362; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1631; Bolton, 1995b: 272.
  • Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

• Syntype, 1 worker, 1 male, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-017893, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Syntype, 1 worker, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.

References

• Clark, J. 1943. A revision of the genus Promyrmecia Emery (Formicidae). Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 13: 83-149 (page 105, queen, male described; combination in Promyrmecia)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.] (page 192, Raised to species)
• Forel, A. 1900b. Ponerinae et Dorylinae d'Australie récoltés par MM. Turner, Froggatt, Nugent, Chase, Rothney, J.-J. Walker, etc. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 44: 54-77 (page 54, 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. 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).
• 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).
• Taylor, R. W.; Brown, D. R. 1985. Formicoidea. Zool. Cat. Aust. 2:1- 149: 1-149, 30 (page 11, Combination in Myrmecia)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1933i. Colony founding among ants, with an account of some primitive Australian species. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, viii + 179 pp. (page 62, Combination in M. (Promyrmecia), raised to species)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1934d. Contributions to the fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. No. IX. The ants. J. R. Soc. West. Aust. 20: 137-163.