Paraparatrechina minutula

Paraparatrechina minutula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Lasiini
Genus:	Paraparatrechina
Species:	P. minutula
Binomial name
Paraparatrechina minutula (Forel, 1901) Specimen Labels
Subspecies
Paraparatrechina minutula buxtoni Santschi, 1928
Synonyms
Prenolepis minutula atomus Forel, 1901

A rare inhabitant of urban bushland in the Perth area, where it was found nesting in rotting wood on one occasion. Specimens have also been collected on Rottnest Island (Wheeler 1934). Since the species is common on the east and south-east coasts of Australia, it is possible, though perhaps unlikely, that it has been introduced to Perth by human agency. (Heterick 2009)

At a Glance

• Limited invasive

Identification

Heterick (2009) - Small and yellowish, and the erect, bristly setae on the head capsule are confined to the vertex and midline of the head capsule.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Micronesian Ants
• Key to Paratrechina of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 22.5045° to -37.75°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality), Lord Howe Island.
Indo-Australian Region: Fiji, Guam, Micronesia (Federated States of), New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.

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.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0219729. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by EMSC, Eli M. Sarnat Collection.

Nomenclature

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

• atomus. Prenolepis minutula r. atomus Forel, 1901b: 25 (w.) NEW GUINEA (Bismarck Archipelago). Viehmeyer, 1916a: 148 (q.m.). Combination in Pr. (Nylanderia): Viehmeyer, 1916a: 148; in Paratrechina (Nylanderia): Emery, 1925b: 221. Raised to species: Donisthorpe, 1941a: 143; Donisthorpe, 1941c: 143. Junior synonym of minutula: Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 89.
• minutula. Prenolepis minutula Forel, 1901b: 25 (footnote) (w.) AUSTRALIA. Wheeler, W.M. 1927i: 150 (q.m.). Combination in Pr. (Nylanderia): Emery, 1914f: 422; in Paratrechina (Nylanderia): Emery, 1925b: 221; in Paraparatrechina: LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck, 2010a: 128. Senior synonym of atomus: Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 89. Current subspecies: nominal plus buxtoni.

Type Material

• Prenolepis minutula Forel, 1901: Syntype, 3 workers, New South Wales, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.

References

• Emery, C. 1914f. Les fourmis de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et des îles Loyalty. Nova Caled. A Zool. 1: 393-437 (page 422, Combination in Pr. (Nylanderia))
• Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 221, Combination in Paratrechina (Nylanderia))
• Forel, A. 1901b. Formiciden aus dem Bismarck-Archipel, auf Grundlage des von Prof. Dr. F. Dahl gesammelten Materials. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 2: 4-37. (page 25, worker described)
• Heterick, B. E. 2009a. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206. Part 2.
• 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).
• Ramirez-Esquivel, F., Leitner, N.E., Zeil, J., Narendra, A. 2017. The sensory arrays of the ant, Temnothorax rugatulus. Arthropod Structure, Development 46, 552–563 (doi:10.1016/j.asd.2017.03.005).
• Wheeler, W. M. 1927i. The ants of Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Proc. Am. Acad. Arts Sci. 62: 121-153 (page 150, queen, male described)
• Wilson, E. O.; Taylor, R. W. 1967b. The ants of Polynesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pac. Insects Monogr. 14: 1-109 (page 89, Senior synonym of atomus)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Bluthgen N., G. Gebauer, and K. Fiedler. 2003. Disentangling a rainforest food web using stable isotopes: dietary diversity in a species-rich ant community. Oecologia 137: 426-435.
• Brown E.S. 1959. Immature nutfall of coconuts in the Solomon Islands. II. Changes in ant populations, and their relation to vegetation. Bulletin of Entomological Research 50: 523-558.
• CSIRO Collection
• Clouse R. M. 2007. The ants of Micronesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Micronesica 39: 171-295
• Clouse, R.M. 2007. The ants of Micronesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Micronesica 39(2): 171-295.
• Dahl F. 1901. Das Leben der Ameisen im Bismarck-Archipel, nach eigenen Beobachtungen vergleichend dargestellt. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 2: 1-70.
• Dlussky G.M. 1994. Zoogeography of southwestern Oceania. Zhivotnoe naselenie ostrovov Iugo-Zapadnoi Okeanii ekologo-geograficheskie issledovanii 48-93.
• Field Museum Collection, Chicago, Illinois (C. Moreau)
• Fisher J., L. Beames, B. J. Rangers, N. N. Rangers, J. Majer, and B. Heterick. 2014. Using ants to monitor changes within and surrounding the endangered Monsoon Vine Thickets of the tropical Dampier Peninsula, north Western Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 318: 78–90.
• Forel A. 1901. Formiciden aus dem Bismarck-Archipel, auf Grundlage des von Prof. Dr. F. Dahl gesammelten Materials. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 2: 4-37.
• Greenslade P.J.M. and Greenslade Penelope. 1977. Some Effects of Vegetation Cover and Disturbance on a Tropical Ant Fauna. Insectes Sociaux 24(2): 163-182
• Greenslade P.J.M. and P. Greenslade. 1977. Some effects of vegetation cover and disturbance on a tropical ant fauna. Insectes Sociaux 24(2): 163-182.
• Heterick B. E., B. Durrant, and N. R. Gunawardene. 2010. The ant fauna of the Pilbara Bioregion, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 78: 157-167.
• Janda M., G. D. Alpert, M. L. Borowiec, E. P. Economo, P. Klimes, E. Sarnat, and S. O. Shattuck. 2011. Cheklist of ants described and recorded from New Guinea and associated islands. Available on http://www.newguineants.org/. Accessed on 24th Feb. 2011.
• Jennings J. T., and A. D. Austin. 2015. Synopsis of the hymenopteran fauna of Lord Howe Island with a preliminary checklist of species. Zootaxa 3931(3): 423–432.
• Kami K.S., and S. E. Miller. 1998. Samoan insects and related arthropods: checklist and bibliography. Bishop Museum Technical Report 13, pp 121.
• Kami KS & Miller SE. 1998. Samoan insects and related arthropods: checklist and bibliography. Bishop Museum Technical Report No. 13.
• Klimes P., M. Janda, S. Ibalim, J. Kua, and V. Novotny. 2011. Experimental suppression of ants foraging on rainforest vegetation in New Guinea: testing methods for a whole-forest manipulation of insect communities. Ecological Entomology 36: 94-103.
• Klimes P., P. Fibich, C. Idigel, and M. Rimandai. 2015. Disentangling the diversity of arboreal ant communities in tropical forest trees. PLoS ONE 10(2): e0117853. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117853
• Mann W. M. 1919. The ants of the British Solomon Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 63:273-391.
• Mann William. 1916. The Ants of the British Solomon Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 63(7): 273-391
• Mann, W.M. 1919. The ants of the British Solomon Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard College 63: 273-391
• Peck R. W., P. C. Banko, F. Pendleton, M. A. Schmaedick, and K. Ernsberger. 2014. Arthropods of Rose Atoll with special reference to ants and Pulvinaria urbicola scales (Hemiptera: Coccidae) on Pisonia grandis trees. Technical Report HCSU-057, 22 pages.
• Santschi F. 1928. Formicidae (Fourmis). Insects Samoa. 5: 41-58.
• Snelling R. R. 1998. Insect Part 1: The social Hymenoptera. In Mack A. L. (Ed.) A Biological Assessment of the Lakekamu Basin, Papua New Guinea, RAP 9. 189 ppages
• Snelling R. R. 2000. Ants of the Wapoga river area, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. In Mack, Andrew L. and Leeanne E. Alonso (eds.). 2000. A Biological Assessment of the Wapoga River Area of Northwestern Irian Jaya, Indonesia. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 14, Conservation International, Washington, DC.
• Taylor R. W. 1976. The ants of Rennell and Bellona Islands. Natural History of Rennell Island, British Solomon Islands 7: 73-90.
• 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.
• Terayama M., and S. Haruhiko. 2005. Ants from Guam Island, Mariana islands, Micronesia. Ari 27: 1-5.
• Viehmeyer H. 1912. Ameisen aus Deutsch Neuguinea gesammelt von Dr. O. Schlaginhaufen. Nebst einem Verzeichnisse der papuanischen Arten. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königlichen Zoologischen und Anthropologische-Ethnographischen Museums zu Dresden 14: 1-26.
• Ward D. 2008. Ecological partitioning and invasive ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a tropical rain forest ant community from Fiji. Pacific Science 62(4): 473-482.
• Ward, Darren and Beggs, Jacqueline. 2007. Coexistence, habitat patterns and the assembly of ant communities in the Yasawa islands, Fiji. Ant Oecologica. 32:215-223.
• Wetterer, James K. and Vargo, Donald Vargo L. 2003. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Samoa. Pacific Science. 57(4):409-419.
• Wheeler W. M. 1934. Contributions to the fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. No. IX. The ants. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 20: 137-163.
• Wheeler W.M. 1935. Check list of the ants of Oceania. Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum 11(11):1-56.
• Wheeler WM. 1927. Ants of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 62.4: 120-153.
• Wheeler, W. M. 1927. The ants of Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Proc. Am. Acad. Arts Sci. 62: 121-153
• Wheeler, William Morton. 1912. The Ants of Guam. The New York Entomological Society. 20(1): 44-48.
• Wheeler, William Morton.1935.Checklist of the Ants of Oceania.Occasional Papers 11(11): 3-56
• Wilson E. O.; Taylor, R. W. 1967. The ants of Polynesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pacific Insects Monograph 14:1-109.
• Wilson EO & Taylor RW. 1967. The ants of Polynesia. Pacific Insects Monograph 14: 1-109.
• Wilson EO, Hunt GL. 1967. Ant fauna of Futuna and Wallis Islands, stepping stones to Polynesia. Pacific Insects 9.4: 563-584.
• Wilson, Edward O. 1959. The Ants of Rennell and Bellona Islands. Nat. Hist. Rennell Isl. By Solomon Isl. 4:13-23.
• Wilson, Edward O. and George L. Hunt. 1967. Ant Fauna of Futuna and Wallis Islands, Stepping Stones To Polynesia. Pacific Insects. 9(4):563-584.
• Wilson, Edward O. and Hunt, George L. Jr. 1967. Ant Fauna of Futuna and Wallis Islands, Stepping Stones to Polynesia. Pacific Insects. 9(4):563-584