Myrmecia pulchra

Myrmecia pulchra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species group:	gulosa
Species:	M. pulchra
Binomial name
Myrmecia pulchra Clark, 1929 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Myrmecia crassinoda Clark, 1934 Myrmecia fallax Clark, 1951 Myrmecia murina Clark, 1951

At a Glance

• Ergatoid queen

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Myrmecia Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -30.23332977° to -39.03333333°.

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

Clark (1951) described ergatoid queens in M. pulchra

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.

• pulchra. Myrmecia pulchra Clark, 1929: 119, pl. 1, fig. 3 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
  • Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queens.
  • Type-locality: Australia: Victoria, East Gippsland, Cann River, 26.xi.-8.xii.1928 (J. Clark).
  • Type-depository: MVMA.
  • Clark, 1951: 83 (subapterous q.).
  • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 82 (redescription); Brown, 1953j: 27; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata, 1991a: 358; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1635 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 273.
  • Senior synonym of crassinoda: Brown, 1953j: 27; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1629; Bolton, 1995b: 273.
  • Senior synonym of fallax: Brown, 1953j: 27; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1629; Bolton, 1995b: 273.
  • Senior synonym of murina: Brown, 1953j: 27; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1629; Bolton, 1995b: 273.
  • Distribution: Australia.
• crassinoda. Myrmecia crassinoda Clark, 1934c: 50, pl. 4, fig. 2 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated), 1 syntype ergatoid queen.
  • Type-locality: Australia: Victoria, Gellibrand (J. Clark).
  • Type-depository: MVMA.
  • Status as species: Clark, 1951: 88 (redescription).
  • Junior synonym of pulchra: Brown, 1953j: 27; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1629; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
• fallax. Myrmecia fallax Clark, 1951: 79, fig. 57 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
  • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: holotype Australia: Victoria, Kerrie (J.E. Dixon); paratypes with same data.
  • Type-depository: ANIC.
  • Junior synonym of pulchra: Brown, 1953j: 27; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1629; Bolton, 1995b: 271.
• murina. Myrmecia murina Clark, 1951: 80, figs. 58-60 (w.q.m.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
  • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers, paratype queens, paratype males (numbers not stated).
  • Type-locality: holotype Australia: Victoria, Belgrave, i.1933 (J. Clark); paratypes with same data.
  • Type-depository: ANIC.
  • Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1971d: 251 (l.).
  • Junior synonym of pulchra: Brown, 1953j: 27; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 14; Taylor, 1987a: 45; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1629; Bolton, 1995b: 272.

Type Material

• Myrmecia pulchra: Holotype, worker, Cann River, Victoria, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-012939, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia pulchra: Paratype, 4 workers, Cann River, Victoria, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-012938, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia pulchra: Paratype, 1 worker, Cann River, Victoria, Australia, Agricultural Scientific Collections Unit (Orange, NSW, Australia).
• Myrmecia pulchra: Paratype, 2 workers, Cann River, Victoria, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Myrmecia pulchra: Paratype, worker(s), queen(s), Cann River, Victoria, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
• Myrmecia crassinoda: Holotype, worker, Gellibrand, Victoria, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-015329, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia crassinoda: Paratype, 1 worker, 1 queen, Gellibrand, Victoria, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-013049, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia crassinoda: Paratype, worker(s), queen(s), Gellibrand, Victoria, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
• Myrmecia fallax: Holotype, worker, Kerrie Brae (as Kerrie), Victoria, Australia, Dixon,J.E., ANIC32-013046, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia fallax: Paratype, 5 workers, Kerrie Brae (as Kerrie), Victoria, Australia, Dixon,J.E., ANIC32-013045, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia murina: Holotype, worker, Belgrave, Victoria, Australia, Thorn,L.B., ANIC32-012909, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia murina: Paratype, 1 worker, Belgrave, Victoria, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-012907, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Myrmecia murina: Paratype, 2 workers, Belgrave, Victoria, Australia, Clark,J., ANIC32-012908, Australian National Insect Collection.

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 27, Senior synonym of crassinoda, fallax and murina)
• Clark, J. 1929b. Results of a collecting trip to the Cann River, East Gippsland. Vic. Nat. (Melb.) 46: 115-123 (page 119, pl. 1, fig. 3 worker, queen described)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. Vol. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae. CSIRO, Melbourne
• 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.; Taylor, R. W. 1991. Ants of the genus Myrmecia Fabricius: a preliminary review and key to the named species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae). Journal of Natural History 25: 1623-1673 (page 1629, Senior synonym of crassinoda, fallax and murina)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• CSIRO Collection
• Sinclair J. E., and T. R. New. 2004. Pine plantations in south eastern Australia support highly impoverished ant assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Insect Conservation 8: 277-286.
• 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.