Opisthopsis rufithorax

Opisthopsis rufithorax
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Opisthopsis
Species:	O. rufithorax
Binomial name
Opisthopsis rufithorax Emery, 1895 Specimen Labels

Workers are rather timid and will rapidly dart to the opposite side of a tree-trunk or drop down on the ground when approached. (Heterick 2009)

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Formicinae genera of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - An Australia-wide distribution. Within the SWBP this ant is found mainly east and north of Perth.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -19.26667023° to -35.7°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).
Indo-Australian Region: New Guinea.

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 Opisthopsis rufithorax. Worker. Specimen code casent0905177. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

• rufithorax. Opisthopsis rufithorax Emery, 1895g: 354, fig. 5 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Forel, 1915b: 95 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1970: 648 (l.); Imai, Crozier & Taylor, 1977: 347 (k.). See also: Wheeler, W.M. 1918d: 353.

Type Material

• Syntype, 1 worker, Manilla, New South Wales, Australia, 30°44′0″S 150°43′0″E, MCZ-22941, Museum of Comparative Zoology; (examined by S.Shattuck, October 2012).

Description

Karyotype

• 2n = 50 (Australia) (Imai et al., 1977).

References

• Emery, C. 1895h. Descriptions de quelques fourmis nouvelles d'Australie. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 39: 345-358 (page 354, fig. 5 worker described)
• Forel, A. 1915b. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-13. 2. Ameisen. Ark. Zool. 9(1 16: 1-119 (page 95, queen described)
• Heterick, B. E. 2009a. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206. Part 2.
• 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).
• Hoffmann, B., Eldridge, J., Marston, C. 2023. The first eradication of an exotic ant species from the entirety of Australia: Pheidole fervens. Management of Biological Invasions, 14(4), 619–624 (doi:10.3391/mbi.2023.14.4.03).
• Imai, H. T.; Crozier, R. H.; Taylor, R. W. 1977. Karyotype evolution in Australian ants. Chromosoma (Berl.) 59: 341-393 (page 347, karyotype described)
• Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1970b. Ant larvae of the subfamily Formicinae: second supplement. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 63: 648-656 (page 648, larva described)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1918d. The ants of the genus Opisthopsis Emery. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 62: 341-362 (page 353, see also)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Andersen A. N., and A. V. Spain. 1996. The ant fauna of the Bowen Basin, in the Semi-arid Tropics of Central Queensland (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Australian Journal of Entomology 35: 213-221.
• 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., B. Durrant, and N. R. Gunawardene. 2010. The ant fauna of the Pilbara Bioregion, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 78: 157-167.
• Janda M., G. D. Alpert, M. L. Borowiec, E. P. Economo, P. Klimes, E. Sarnat, and S. O. Shattuck. 2011. Cheklist of ants described and recorded from New Guinea and associated islands. Available on http://www.newguineants.org/. Accessed on 24th Feb. 2011.
• Wheeler W. M. 1918. The ants of the genus Opisthopsis Emery. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 62: 341-362.