Polyrhachis arachne

Polyrhachis arachne
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Polyrhachis
Subgenus:	Myrmhopla
Species:	P. arachne
Binomial name
Polyrhachis arachne Emery, 1896 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Polyrhachis uncinata André, 1896

Polyrhachis arachne was found nesting in the internodes of bamboo, with each of these containing 687 workers (median) (n = 10, range: 125-1088 workers). This ant also tends mealybugs Kermicus wroughtoni outside their nests (in silk pavilions woven under bamboo leaves). Another study found P. arachne within a few nest internodes (2-4, n = 10) that contained 33-340 workers and also in a larger number of leaf pavilions (13 - 23, n = 3) that contained 3-174 workers per pavilion (n = 22) (Dorow and Maschwitz 1990, Schellerich-Kaaden et al. 1997).

At a Glance

• Bamboo Specialist

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Polyrhachis of India

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -6° to -8.183333333°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Indonesia (type locality).
Oriental Region: Thailand.

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

Restricted to nesting inside dead culm internodes of broad-leaved bamboos. Scale insects cannot live there but are tended in silk pavilions under bamboo leaves (Dorow and Maschwitz 1990). P. arachne is known to narrow larger nest entrances with silk and detritus, unlike Polyrhachis schellerichae.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Polyrhachis arachne. Worker. Specimen code casent0905640. 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.

• arachne. Polyrhachis arachne Emery, 1896f: 249 (w.q.) INDONESIA (Java). Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1990b: 758 (l.). Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 192. Senior synonym of uncinata: Emery, 1898a: 230. See also: Bingham, 1903: 390; Dorow & Maschwitz, 1990: 73.
• uncinata. Polyrhachis uncinata André, 1896b: 252 (w.) THAILAND. Junior synonym of arachne: Emery, 1898a: 230.

References

• André, E. 1896d. Fourmis nouvelles d'Asie et d'Australie. Rev. Entomol. (Caen) 15: 251-265.
• Bingham, C. T. 1903. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera, Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-wasps. London: Taylor and Francis, 506 pp. (page 390, see also)
• Dorow, W. H. O.; Maschwitz, U. 1990. The arachne-group of Polyrhachis (Formicidae: Formicinae): weaver ants cultivating Homoptera on bamboo. Insectes Soc. 37: 73-89 (page 73, see also)
• Emery, C. 1896f. Formicides récoltés à Buitenzorg (Java), par M. Massart. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 40: 245-249 (page 249, worker, queen described)
• Emery, C. 1898a. Aggiunte e correzioni al saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrachis [sic] e affini. Rend. Sess. R. Accad. Sci. Ist. Bologna (n.s.) 2: 225-231 (page 230, Senior synonym of uncinata)
• Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 192, Combination in P. (Myrmhopla))
• Khachonpisitsak, S., Yamane, S., Sriwichai, P., Jaitrong, W. 2020. An updated checklist of the ants of Thailand (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 998, 1–182 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.998.54902).
• Schellerich-Kaaden, A. L., W. H. O. Dorow, C. Liefke, R. W. Klein, and U. Maschwitz. 1997. Biology of Polyrhachis schellerichae, a specialized bamboo-dwelling ant species from the Malay peninsula (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Senckenbergiana biologica. 77(1):77-87.
• Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1990b. Larvae of the formicine ant genus Polyrhachis. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 116: 753-767 (page 758, larva described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• André E. 1896. Fourmis nouvelles d'Asie et d'Australie. Rev. Entomol. (Caen) 15: 251-265.
• Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
• Dorow W. H. O., and U. Maschwitz. 1990. The arachne-group of Polyrhachis (Formicidae: Formicinae): weaver ants cultivating Homoptera on bamboo. Insectes Sociaux. 37: 73-89.
• Emery, C. "Formicides recoltes a Buitenzorg (Java), par M. Massart." Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 40 (1896): 245-249.
• Ito, F.; Yamane, S.; Eguchi, K.; Noerdjito, W. A.; Kahono, S.; Tsuji, K.; Ohkawara, K.; Yamauchi, K.; Nishida, T.; Nakamura, K. 2001. Ant species diversity in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, Indonesia, with descriptions of two new species of the genus Leptanilla (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Tropics 10:379-404.
• Mustafa N.A., H.M.W. Salim, C. Fletcher, A.R. Kassim, and M.D. Potts. 2011. Taxonomic and functional diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in an upper hill dipterocarp forest in Peninsular Malaysia. The Raffles bulletin of Zoology 59(2): 181-194.
• Robson Simon Ant Collection, 05-Sept-2014
• Robson Simon Database Polyrhachis -05 Sept 2014
• Wheeler G. C., and J. Wheeler. 1990. Larvae of the formicine ant genus Polyrhachis. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 116: 753-767.
• Widodo E.S., M. Mohamed, and Y. Hashimoto. 2001. Canopy ant diversity assessment in the fragmented rainforest of Sabah, East Malaysia. Nature and Human activities 6: 13-23.
• Zryanin V. A. 2011. An eco-faunistic review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). In: Structure and functions of soil communities of a monsoon tropical forest (Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam) / A.V. Tiunov (Editor). – M.: KMK Scientific Press. 2011. 277 р.101-124.