Tetramorium melleum

Tetramorium melleum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Tetramorium
Species:	T. melleum
Binomial name
Tetramorium melleum Emery, 1897 Specimen labels
Synonyms
Ireneella papuensis Donisthorpe, 1941

Identification

Identification Keys including this Taxon

• Key to Australian Tetramorium Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -3.324166667° to -12.73333°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia.
Indo-Australian Region: New Guinea.

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

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0172461. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Tetramorium  X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Tetramorium melleum (worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.

Extremely spiny ant from New Guinea and Australia. See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.

Nomenclature

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

• melleum. Tetramorium melleum Emery, 1897c: 586, pl. 15, figs. 29, 30 (w.) NEW GUINEA. Brown, 1964c: 13. Combination in Rhoptromyrmex: Emery, 1924d: 290; in Tetramorium: Ward et al., 2014: 15. Senior synonym of papuensis: Bolton, 1976: 302. See also: Bolton, 1986a: 14.
• papuensis. Ireneella papuensis Donisthorpe, 1941i: 175 (m.) NEW GUINEA. Junior synonym of melleus: Bolton, 1976: 302.

Type Material

• Tetramorium melleum: Holotype, worker, Beliao Island near Madang [as Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen], Papua New Guinea, Musee National d'Histoire Naturelle.

References

• Bolton, B. 1976. The ant tribe Tetramoriini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Constituent genera, review of smaller genera and revision of Triglyphothrix Forel. Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Entomol. 34: 281-379 (page 302, Senior synonym of papuensis)
• Bolton, B. 1986a. A taxonomic and biological review of the tetramoriine ant genus Rhoptromyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Syst. Entomol. 11: 1-17 (page 14, see also)
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1964g. Rhoptromyrmex melleus, brief characterization of. Pilot Regist. Zool. Card No. 13. (page 13, ?)
• Emery, C. 1897c. Formicidarum species novae vel minus cognitae in collectione Musaei Nationalis Hungarici quas in Nova-Guinea, colonia germanica, collegit L. Biró. Természetr. Füz. 20: 571-599. (page 586, pl. 15, figs. 29, 30 worker described)
• Emery, C. 1924f [1922]. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [concl.]. Genera Insectorum 174C: 207-397 (page 290, Combination in Rhoptromyrmex)
• Liu, C., Fischer, G., Hita Garcia, F., Yamane, S., Liu, Q., Peng, Y.Q., Economo, E.P., Guénard, B., Pierce, N.E. 2020. Ants of the Hengduan Mountains: a new altitudinal survey and updated checklist for Yunnan Province highlight an understudied insect biodiversity hotspot. ZooKeys 978, 1–171 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.978.55767).
• Ward, P.S., Brady, S.G., Fisher, B.L., Schultz, T.R. 2015. The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 40: 61–81 (doi:10.1111/syen.12090).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Bolton B. 1976. The ant tribe Tetramoriini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Constituent genera, review of smaller genera and revision of Triglyphothrix Forel. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 34:281-379.
• Bolton B. 1986. A taxonomic and biological review of the tetramoriine ant genus Rhoptromyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 11: 1-17.
• Brown W. L., Jr. 1964. Genus Rhoptromyrmex, revision of, and key to species. Pilot Regist. Zool. Card No. 11.
• Brown W. L., Jr. 1964. Rhoptromyrmex melleus, brief characterization of. Pilot Regist. Zool. Card No. 13.
• CSIRO Collection
• 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
• Donisthorpe H. 1941. A new genus and species of Formicidae (Hym.) from Papua. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 77: 175.
• Emery C. 1897. Formicidarum species novae vel minus cognitae in collectione Musaei Nationalis Hungarici quas in Nova-Guinea, colonia germanica, collegit L. Biró. Természetrajzi Füzetek 20: 571-599.
• Emery C. Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale 40: 661-722.
• Emery, C. "Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genova) (2) 20, no. 40 (1900): 661-722.
• 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.
• Lucky A., E. Sarnat, and L. Alonso. 2011. Ants of the Muller Range, Papua New Guinea, Chapter 10. In Richards, S. J. and Gamui, B. G. (editors). 2013. Rapid Biological Assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea’s sublime karst environments. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60. Conservation International. Arlington, VA.
• Lucky A., K. Sagata, and E. Sarnat. 2011. Ants of the Nakanai Mountains, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, Chapter 1. In Richards, S. J. and Gamui, B. G. (editors). 2013. Rapid Biological Assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea’s sublime karst environments. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60. Conservation International. Arlington, VA.
• Lucky A., L. E. Alonso, E. Sarnat, and J. Hulr. 2015. Ants and scolytine beetles. In: Richards, S.J. and N. Whitmore (editors) 2015. A rapid biodiversity assessment of Papua New Guinea's Hindenburg Wall region. Wildlife Conservation Society Papua New Guinea Program. Goroka, PNG.
• Mann, W.M. 1919. The ants of the British Solomon Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard College 63: 273-391
• Room P. M. 1975. Diversity and organization of the ground foraging ant faunas of forest, grassland and tree crops in Papua Nez Guinea. Aust. J. Zool. 23: 71-89.
• Room, P.M. 1975. Relative Distributions of Ant Species in Cocoa Plantations in Papua New Guinea Relative Distributions of Ant Species in Cocoa Plantations in Papua New Guinea. Journal of Applied Ecology 12(1):47-61
• 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. 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.
• Taylor R. W. 1991. Nomenclature and distribution of some Australasian ants of the Myrmicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 30: 599-614.
• 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.
• Wilson E. O. 1959. Some ecological characteristics of ants in New Guinea rain forests. Ecology 40: 437-447.