Podomyrma elongata

Podomyrma elongata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Podomyrma
Species group:	elongata
Species:	P. elongata
Binomial name
	Podomyrma elongata; Forel, 1895 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Podomyrma densestrigosa teres Viehmeyer, 1924; Podomyrma parva Crawley, 1925;

Identification

Heterick (2009) - The propodeum is unarmed and the promesonotum is longitudinally striate.

Keys including this Species

Key to Podomyrma of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - Known to occur within the vicinity of Perth, Podomyrma elongata is also found on the east coast of Australia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -34.43333054° to -34.43333054°.


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.

Biology

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb


Worker. Specimen code casent0906191. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

elongata. Podomyrma elongata Forel, 1895f: 428 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Senior synonym of parva: Brown, 1953b: 3; of teres: Taylor, 1999: 173.
teres. Podomyrma densestrigosa subsp. teres Viehmeyer, 1924b: 317 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of elongata: Taylor, 1999: 173.
parva. Podomyrma parva Crawley, 1925b: 592 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of elongata: Brown, 1953b: 3.

Type Material

Podomyrma elongata: Syntype, 1 worker, Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
Podomyrma densestrigosa teres Viehmeyer, 1924: Syntype, worker(s), Liverpool and Trial Bay, New South Wales, Australia, Berlin Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität.
Podomyrma parva Crawley, 1925: Syntype, worker(s), Western Australia, Australia, Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Crawley (1925) - Length 4 mm.

Dull reddish-brown; head darker than thorax, gaster darker than head, except the extreme base; mandibles, antennae, cheeks, and tarsi castaneous.

Body, including legs and antennae, covered. with a moderately long abundant pilosity.

Head slightly longer than broad, somewhat narrower at the occipital angles, which are rounded. Occipital border concave in centre. Eyes somewhat in front of middle of sides of head, which are feebly convex. Scapes reach two-thirds of the distance from their base to the occiput. A broad and shallow scrobe extends to the end of the scapes. Frontal carinre short, continued by the edge of the scrobe. Mandibles with five teeth, the three apical ones large and acute, the others indistinct. Clypeus fiat, with a central ridge, the anterior border sinuate, excavate in centre.

Joints 2 to 4 of funiculus about as wide as long, the others increasing in size to the club, of which the apical joint is rather longer than the other two together.

Pronotum two-thirds as wide behind as in front, the anterior angles rounded, no signs of teeth. Mesonotuni has feeble lateral ridges.

Base of epinotum longer than the declivity, slightly concave in centre, the angle between the two faces rounded. Declivity convex and feebly marginate. Petiole, seen from above, three-fifths as wide as long, slightly wider behind, the sides feebly convex. In profile the petiole is rounded along the top, descending more rapidly in front; beneath anteriorly is a tooth. Postpetiole, seen from above, almost globular, in profile it is rounded above and almost flat beneath. Gaster broadly oval.

Moderately shining. Mandibles superficially striate with minute points. Clypeus shining; besides the central ridge there is one on each side, and sometimes a smaller incomplete one beyond.

Head between antennal scrobes regularly and widely striate, the striae become more superficial and wider apart as the vertex is reached, where also there are a few scattered punctures. Between the striae the surface is slightly roughened, but shining. Cheeks, sides, and underneath of head longitudinally striate, but not so regularly, the lines curving and having a reticular tendency. Scrobe finely reticulate only. Dorsum of pro-mesonotum striate similarly to the head, but less strongly, and the mesonotum has in addition a reticulate ground sculpture. Base of epinotum coarsely rugose, the declivity reticulate. Sides of thorax longitudinally striate, but mesopleurae are almost entirely reticulate only. Pedicel with a dense ground reticulate sculpture; the first node has also a few longitudinal ridges and the second a few elongate punctures. Extreme base of gaster longitudinally striate, the rest almost entirely smooth and shining.

References

Brown, W. L., Jr. 1953b. Notes on Australian Podomyrma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). North Qld. Nat. 21: 3 (page 3, Senior synonym of parva)
Forel, A. 1895g. Nouvelles fourmis d'Australie, récoltées à The Ridge, Mackay, Queensland, par M. Gilbert Turner. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 39: 417-428 (page 428, 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. 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).
Taylor, R. W. 1999. Nomenclatural changes in the Australasian ant genus Podomyrma Fredrick Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Sociobiology 34: 173-174 (page 173, Senior synonym of teres)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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.
Viehmeyer H. 1924. Formiciden der australischen Faunenregion. (Fortsetzung). Entomologische Mitteilungen. Berlin-Dahlem 13: 310-319.