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Turneria frenchi
| Turneria frenchi | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Dolichoderinae |
| Tribe: | Leptomyrmecini |
| Genus: | Turneria |
| Species: | T. frenchi |
| Binomial name | |
| Turneria frenchi Forel, 1911 | |
The identity of this species is currently uncertain. It was originally described in the genus Turneria by Forel (1911), transferred to Stigmacros by Shattuck (1990) and then back to Turneria by Taylor (1992). Type material is apparently lost and until it is found or replaced the status of this taxon is unlikely to be resolved.
Identification
Distribution
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. |
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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
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- frenchi. Turneria frenchi Forel, 1911b: 207 (footnote) (w.) AUSTRALIA. Combination in Stigmacros: Shattuck, 1990: 105; in Turneria: Taylor, 1992a: 67.
Type Material
- Syntype, worker, Australia.
Description
Based on the original description, T. frenchi possesses the following characters: eyes convex and placed laterally on head, antennae exceeding occipital border, mesosoma margined laterally, promesonotal suture and metanotal groove deeply impressed, declivitous face of propodeum with dentiform processes basally, scale notched dorsally, and the integument smooth and shiny.
The identity of Turneria frenchi Forel (1911:207, worker from an unspecified locality in Australia) is problematic. Type material could not be located by Shattuck (1990) and is apparently lost. It is not present in the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (P. Dessart, pers. comm.), which is the "Musée de Bruxelles" mentioned as the type depository in the original description. Shattuck (1990) could not find any specimens that agreed with the original description of this species but did find a single worker specimen identified by W. C. Crawley as T. frenchi, housed in Oxford University Museum of Natural History. This specimen is an apparently undescribed species of Stigmacros (Campostigmacros), suggesting that Forel's specimen may well have been a Stigmacros as well.
However, Taylor (1992) found these arguments too speculative and moved this species back to Turneria. This is its currently placement.
References
- Forel, A. (1911) Ameisen aus Java beobachtet und gesammelt von Herrn Edward Jacobson. 2 Theil. Notes from the Leyden Museum 33, 193-218
- Shattuck, S. O. 1990. Revision of the dolichoderine ant genus Turneria (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Syst. Entomol. 15: 101-117.
- Taylor, R.W. (1992) Nomenclature and distribution of some Australian and New Guinean ants of the subfamily Formicinae. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 31, 57-69.