Polyrhachis mackayi

Polyrhachis mackayi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	Polyrhachis
Subgenus:	Cyrtomyrma
Species:	P. mackayi
Binomial name
	Polyrhachis mackayi; Donisthorpe, 1938 Specimen Labels

Polyrhachis mackayi is a relatively uncommon species that builds its nests between the leaves of trees and shrubs, mostly along the margins of lowland rainforests and woodlands (Kohout 2006).

Identification

Characterised by the evenly convex profile of the mesosomal dorsum, rounded pronotal humeri, a completely unarmed propodeum and relatively short and subequal petiolar spines (Kohout 2006).

Keys including this Species

Key to Australian Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) species

Distribution

From just north of Mackay in Queensland south to Taree in northern New South Wales, where, together with Polyrhachis pilosa it represents the southern-most limit of the distribution of the subgenus (Kohout 2006).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -15.716° to -31.91527°.


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.

Elevation Range

Occurrence at collecting sites during elevational surveys of rainforest in the Eungella region, Queensland, Australia (Burwell et al., 2020).
Species	Elevation (m asl)
Species	200	400	600	800	1000	1200
Polyrhachis mackayi	20-30	10-20	0-10
Shading indicates the bands of elevation where species was recorded. Numbers are the percentage of total samples containing this species.

Biology

Castes

Images from AntWeb


Syntype of Polyrhachis mackayi. Worker. Specimen code casent0903417. Photographer Will Ericson, 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.

mackayi. Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) mackayi Donisthorpe, 1938c: 258, fig. 9 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA. See also: Kohout, 2006b: 100.

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

Type Material

Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) mackayi Donisthorpe, 1938: Syntype, workers, queen, Mackay, Queensland, Australia, The Natural History Museum.

Description

Worker

Black, shining, usual sculpture; legs dark brown, antennre and tarsi black, palpi light brown. Head as in rastellata, but not so broad, broader than in burmanensis. Thorax not nearly so massive and broad as in rastellata, but broader than in burmanensis. Scale narrow as in the latter, but with smaller blunter teeth. Long. 4·7 mm.

Queen

Similar to the worker, except the usual caste differences, but the shoulders are more rounded and the teeth on the scale are blunter. Long. 6.3 mm.

Type Material

QUEENSLAND, Mackay, col. R.E. Turner. Syntype workers and queen The Natural History Museum - as reported by Kohout (2006).

References

Burwell, C.J., Nakamura, A. 2020. Rainforest ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an elevational gradient at Eungella in the Clarke Range, Central Queensland coast, Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 125: 43-63.
Donisthorpe, H. 1938c. The subgenus Cyrtomyrma Forel of Polyrhachis Smith, and descriptions of new species, etc. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 11(1): 246-267 (page 258, fig. 9 worker, queen described)
Kohout, R. J. 2006. Review of Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) of Australia, Borneo, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands with descriptions of new species. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 52:87-146.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Kohout R. J. 2000. A review of the distribution of the Polyrhachis and Echinopla ants of the Queensland wet tropics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 46: 183-209
Majer J. D., R. L. Kitching, B. E. Heterick, K. Hurley, and K. E. C. Brennan. 2001. North-south patterns within arboreal ant assembalages from rain forests in Eastern Australia. Biotropica 33(4): 643-661.