.jpg){kind=logo}
Polyrhachis dostali
| Polyrhachis dostali | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Tribe: | Camponotini |
| Genus: | Polyrhachis |
| Subgenus: | Polyrhachis |
| Species group: | bihamata |
| Species: | P. dostali |
| Binomial name | |
| Polyrhachis dostali Zettel, 2019 | |
This rare species is known from two collections made in Malaysia. Nothing is known concerning its biology.
Photo Gallery
Identification
Size moderately small, body length ca. 9.2–9.8 mm, head width 1.90–1.99 mm. Colour predominantly black, with reddish areas only on mesosoma and petiole. Short pubescence dense, standing setae lacking on head (except on clypeus), mesosoma, petiole, and gaster tergites 1–2. Surface matt. Eyes in full-face view not surpassing outline of head. Dorsum of propodeum laterally delimited by an obtuse edge, posteriorly by a complete transverse carina that is laterally elevated, without spines or teeth. Petiole columnar; spines hooked, parallel and almost touching each other for most of length.
Polyrhachis dostali belongs to the P. bihamata species group as defined by Hung (1970) and Kohout (2014). Using the key by Kohout (2014), workers of P. dostali will be identified as Polyrhachis erosispina, a species of Sulawesi and New Guinea. However, P. dostali differs strongly from P. erosispina by much darker colouration, a higher petiole (PI < 100 in P. erosispina; fide Kohout 2014), and by the lack of standing setae on head (except for the clypeal setae), mesosoma, petiole, and gaster tergites 1–2.
The colour of P. dostali is much darker than in any species of the subgenus except the East Palaearctic species Polyrhachis lamellidens, which is almost entirely black and belongs to the P. lamellidens species group (see, e.g., Kohout 2014).
A reduced pilosity as in P. dostali is also observed in some populations of Polyrhachis olybria (which demands a closer examination of conspecificity of P. olybria populations in the future), in Polyrhachis bellicosa from Sulawesi and New Guinea, in Polyrhachis taylori, from New Guinea, and in Polyrhachis tonsilis. However, P. tonsilis shares most of the structural details with P. bihamata and Polyrhachis lacroixi; for distinction see notes on P. tonsilis and the key.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 5.8° to 5.6°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: Zettel, 2019
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Malaysia (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
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- dostali. Polyrhachis (Polyrhachis) dostali Zettel, 2019: 59, figs. 1-3 (w.) MALAYSIA.
Type Material
- Holotype worker, Malaysia, Kelantan, 30 km south of Jeli, west of Kampung Timor, Gunung Jual, N 5°36', E 101°49', 800 m a.s.l., 10.IV.–6.V., leg. P. Cechovský.
- Paratypes, 13 workers, same data as holotype.
- Paratype, 1 worker, Malaysia, Sabah [labelled British North Borneo], Sandakan, leg. Dr. Stamm, in the Natural History Museum Basle.
The holotype will be deposited in BORNEENSIS, Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, paratypes (same details as holotype) in the Natural History Museum Vienna, the Seiki Yamane Collection in Kagoshima-shi, Japan, the Alexander Dostal Collection and the author’s collection, both in Vienna, Austria.
The type material of P. dostali chiefly consists of 14 workers from the author’s collection. They originate from one locality in Kelantan, but it is unknown if they belong to a single nest series. One additional paratype from Borneo has been discovered among P. bihamata specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum Basle.