Polyrhachis armata

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Polyrhachis armata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Polyrhachis
Subgenus: Myrmhopla
Species: P. armata
Binomial name
Polyrhachis armata
(Le Guillou, 1842)

Polyrhachis-armata-HUMCZ001L1.jpg

Polyrhachis-armata-HUMCZ001D.jpg

Specimen Label

Subspecies
Synonyms

Polyrhachis armata is a very widespread and distinctive south-east Asian species of the subgenus Myrmhopla. Heterick & Kitching (2022) collected this species in the canopy of a lowland dipterocarp forest in Brunei.

Identification

A member of the Polyrhachis armata species group.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Kohout (2008) - A relatively common species that extends from the Andaman Islands and Indo-China, including Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, eastwards to the Philippines and south to Borneo, Sumatra and Java. It was listed from Sulawesi by Emery (1901), however, I have not seen any specimens originating from east of Wallace’s line.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 21.96608333° to -7.5°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines (type locality), Singapore.
Oriental Region: Cambodia, India, Laos, Thailand.
Palaearctic Region: China.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Biology

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps formicarum (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps irangiensis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps myrmecophila (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
  • This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (a pathogen) (Shrestha et al., 2017).

Castes

  • Liu, C. et al. 2020. Ants of the Hengduan Mountains, Figure 42, Polyrhachis armata.

Worker

Polyrhachis-armataH2x.jpgPolyrhachis-armataL1.6x.jpgPolyrhachis-armataD1.6x.jpgPolyrhachis-armataLabel.jpgMCZ Polyrhachis armata hef2 5.jpgMCZ Polyrhachis armata hal1 25.jpgMCZ Polyrhachis armata had1 25.jpgMCZ Polyrhachis armata lbs.jpg
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Nomenclature

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

  • armata. Formica armata Le Guillou, 1842: 313 (q.) PHILIPPINES. Mayr, 1867a: 46 (w.); Karavaiev, 1927e: 29 (m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1990b: 759 (l.). Combination in Polyrhachis: Roger, 1863b: 9; in P. (Myrmhopla): Forel, 1915b: 107. Senior synonym of pandarus: Roger, 1863b: 9. Current subspecies: nominal plus defensa. See also: Bingham, 1903: 393.
  • pandarus. Polyrhachis pandarus Smith, F. 1857a: 62 (w.) BORNEO. Mayr, 1862: 679 (q.). Junior synonym of armata: Roger, 1863b: 9.

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

Kohout (2007) - Polyrhachis armata was originally described from the Philippines but the type material has apparently been lost. Consequently I have compared the holotype of Polyrhachis maryatiae with the available syntypes of Polyrhachis pandarus Fr. Smith and Polyrhachis armata defensa Fr. Smith (BMNH and OXUM respectively). Both species were considered by Roger (1863), Dalla Torre (1893) and Wheeler (1919) to be junior synonyms of P. armata . However, P. defensa was later revived from synonymy by Emery (1925) and considered by him and subsequent authors, including Bolton (1995) and Dorow (1995), to be a subspecies of P. armata. This decision was presumably based on variation in the colour of the gaster which is black in the nominate subspecies and reddish-brown in defensa. I strongly suspect that the subspecific status of defensa is unwarranted but am reluctant to formalise the synonymy before a more detailed examination of the variation of P. armata across its entire geographic range.

Description

Type Material

Kohout (2008) - Holotype queen. PHILIPPINES, MINDANAO, Zamboanga, ?Musee National d'Histoire Naturelle (type presumed lost).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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