Myrmecia picta

Myrmecia picta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species group:	picta
Species:	M. picta
Binomial name
Myrmecia picta Smith, F., 1858 Specimen Labels

Within the SWBP, this species is quite common in Wandoo woodlands, on the eastern slopes of the Darling Range.

Identification

Heterick (2009) - Myrmecia picta F. Smith, the only member of the M. picta group in the SWBP, has a characteristic bicoloured head capsule, yellow anteriorly and blackish posteriorly.

Keys including this Species

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

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -28.05° to -35.53332901°.

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

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Myrmecia picta. Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0902807. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

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.

• picta. Myrmecia picta Smith, F. 1858b: 146 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (South Australia).
  • Type-material: 1 syntype worker, 1 syntype queen.
  • Type-locality: Australia: South Australia, Adelaide, “53/8”.
  • Type-depository: BMNH.
  • Clark, 1927: 39 (m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1971d: 251 (l).
  • Combination in M. (Promyrmecia): Clark, 1927: 39;
  • combination in Promyrmecia: Clark, 1943: 100;
  • combination in Myrmecia: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14.
  • Status as species: Roger, 1861a: 36; Mayr, 1862: 727 (in key); Roger, 1863b: 23; Mayr, 1863: 430; Lowne, 1865b: 336; Mayr, 1876: 94; Dalla Torre, 1893: 21; Forel, 1900b: 54; Forel, 1907h: 267; Emery, 1911d: 21; Forel, 1915b: 4; Viehmeyer, 1924a: 222; Crawley, 1926: 382 (redescription); Clark, 1927: 39; Clark, 1934a: 11 (redescription); Clark, 1943: 100 (redescription); Clark, 1951: 139 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata, 1991a: 361; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1640 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 272; Heterick, 2009: 122.
  • Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

• Syntype, worker(s), queen(s), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, The Natural History Museum.

References

• 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).
• Clark, J. 1927. The ants of Victoria. Part III. Vic. Nat. (Melb.) 44: 33-40 (page 39, male described, Combination in M. (Promyrmecia))
• Clark, J. 1943. A revision of the genus Promyrmecia Emery (Formicidae). Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 13: 83-149 (page 100, Combination in Promyrmecia)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
• Crawley, W. C. 1926. A revision of some old types of Formicidae. Trans. Entomol. Soc. Lond. 1925: 373-393 (page 382, see also)
• 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).
• 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).
• Ogata, K. 1991a. Ants of the genus Myrmecia Fabricius: a review of the species groups and their phylogenetic relationships (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae). Syst. Entomol. 16: 353-381 (page 360, see also)
• Smith, F. 1858b. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part VI. Formicidae. London: British Museum, 216 pp. (page 146, worker, queen described)
• Taylor, R. W.; Brown, D. R. 1985. Formicoidea. Zool. Cat. Aust. 2:1- 149: 1-149, 30 (page 14, Combination in Myrmecia)
• Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1971d. Ant larvae of the subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pan-Pac. Entomol. 47: 245-256 (page 251, larva described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• CSIRO Collection
• Emery C. 1911. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125.
• Miller L. J., and T. R. New. 1997. Mount Piper grasslands: pitfall trapping of ants and interpretation of habitat variability. Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria 56(2): 377-381.
• 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.