Turneria pacifica

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Turneria pacifica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Tribe: Leptomyrmecini
Genus: Turneria
Species: T. pacifica
Binomial name
Turneria pacifica
Mann, 1919

Turneria pacifica casent0006113 profile 1.jpg

Turneria pacifica casent0006113 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

This species occurs in the Soloman Islands and Vanuatu and is completely sympatric with T. dahlii. Wilson (1962) found it, along with T. dahlii, to be one of the dominant arboreal ants in lowland rain forests on Espiritu Santo.

Identification

Relative eye length (eye length/head width) < 0.35, frontal lobes with 1 or 2 erect hairs, lateral areas of head weakly imbricate and with integument shiny, area between propodeal protuberances flat, bicolored with yellow head and thorax and dark brown to black gaster. The clypeus possesses between 10 and 16 erect hairs. As discussed above, T. pacifica and T. dahlii are very similar and the only significant difference found in this study was the contrasting yellow and black color of T. pacifica, while T. dahlii is uniform yellow-brown to black.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -9.466666667° to -11°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Solomon Islands (type locality), Vanuatu.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.

  • pacifica. Turneria pacifica Mann, 1919: 361, figs. 39, 40 (w.) SOLOMON IS. Wilson, 1962c: 17 (q.); Shattuck, 1990: 112 (m.).


Holotype worker from Grasciosa Bay, Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands (W. M. Mann) (National Museum of Natural History).

In the USNM is a specimen baring an identical locality label as the type specimen (also in the USNM). This specimen is conspecific with the type and was apparently collected at the same time. Mann (1919) clearly states he described this species from a single specimen, therefore this second specimen should not be considered part of the type series.

Description

Worker measurements (n=15): OOD 0.20-0.23, EL 0.22-0.26, OCD 0.11-0.14, CL 0.15-0.22, HL 0.71-0.83, LES 0.06-0.08, EW 0.11-0.14, ES 0.29-0.34, HW 0.66-0.76, SL 0.50-0.59, PnL 0.34-0.43, ML 0.27-0.33, PpL 0.22-0.27, PnW 0.41-0.50, MW 0.27-0.34, PpW 0.27-0.30, PO 0.04-0.08, FFL 0.53-0.61, FFW 0.19-0.23, MH 0.37-0.49, PpH 0.27-0.34, CI 0.90-0.95, OI 0.51-0.59, REL 0.32-0.35, SI 0.75-0.86, FI 0.32-0.40, PI 0.59-0.68, PpI 0.78-0.91, ROOD 0.29-0.33, POI 0.15-0.27, RPO 0.07-0.11, RMW 0.39-0.44, RLES 0.08-0.11, RES 0.42-0.46, RFFL 0.77-0.83.

Definitions of measurements cited above

  • CL: Clypeal Length: measured in full face view.
  • CI: Cephalic index: HL/HW.
  • EL: Eye Length: measured in full face view.
  • ES: Eye Spread: distance between inner-most edges of eyes measured in full face view.
  • EW: Eye width measured in full face view.
  • FFL: Fore Femur Length: maximum length of fore femur measured in lateral view.
  • FFW: Fore Femur Width: maximum width of fore femur measured in lateral view.
  • FI: Femur Index: FFW/FFL.
  • HL: Head Length: maximum length of head in full face view, from the anterior clypeal margin to the midpoint of a line drawn across the occipital margin.
  • HW: Head Width: maximum width of head in full face view, excluding eyes in workers and queens, including eyes in males.
  • LES: Lateral Eye Space: distance from lateral edge of head to lateral edge of eye measured in full face view.
  • MH: Mesothoracic Height: maximum height of the mesothorax measured perpendicular to the measuring axis.
  • ML: Mesonotal Length: distance from the pronotal-mesonotal suture to the metanotal groove measured parallel to the measuring axis.
  • MW: Mesonotal Width: minimum width of mesonotum in dorsal view profile.
  • OCD: Ocular-Clypeal Distance: distance between anterior margin of eye and posterior margin of clypeus measured in full face view.
  • OI: Ocular Index: EW/EL.
  • OOD: Occiput-Ocular Distance: distance between posterior margin of eye and posterior extremity of occipital border measured in full face view.
  • PI: Pronotal Width Index: PnW/HW.
  • PnL: Pronotal Length: distance from the anterior edge of the pronotal collar to the pronotal-mesonotal suture measured parallel to the measuring axis.
  • PnW: Pronotal Width: maximum width of pronotum, measured in dorsal view.
  • PO: Propodeal Overhang: distance from the posterior-most point of the propodeal tubercles to the posterior-most point of the petiolar insertion measured parallel to the measuring axis.
  • POI: Propodeal Overhang Index: PO/PpH.
  • PpH: Propodeal Height: maximum height of the propodeum measured perpendicular to the measuring axis.
  • PpL: Propodeal Length: distance from the metanotal groove to the posterior-most point of the propodeal tubercles measured parallel to the measuring axis.
  • PpI: Propodeal Length Index: PpL/HW.
  • PpW: Propodeal Width: maximum width of the dorsal propodeal surface in dorsal view.
  • REL: Relative Eye Length: EL/HW.
  • RFFL: Relative Fore Femur Length: FFL/HW.
  • RES: Relative Eye Spread: ES/HW.
  • RLES: Relative Lateral Eye Space: LES/HW.
  • RMW: Relative Mesonotal Width: MW/HW.
  • ROOD: Relative Occiput-Ocular Distance: OOD/HW.
  • RPO: Relative Propodeal Overhang: PO/HW.
  • SI: Scape index: SL/HW.
  • SL: Scape Length: length of the first antennal segment (scape) excluding the basal radicle.

Queen description: Additional characters not given in the generic description include: numerous hairs present on the lateral margin of the head between the posterior edge of the eye and the occipital corner. Body bicolored with the head, alitrunk, legs and petiole yellow to reddish yellow and the gaster dark brown to black.

Male description: This is the only species for which the male is known. Since the generic characterization above is based on this species, the description will not be repeated here. Color, however, is probably species specific and is as follows: head reddish brown, darker near the ocelli; mandibles, antennae and legs yellow; clypeus and frontal area reddish yellow; thorax and dorsum of petiole reddish yellow with the gaster slightly darker; ventral area of petiole lacking pigment and more or less transparent.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • CSIRO Collection
  • 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
  • Shattuck S. O. 1990. Revision of the dolichoderine ant genus Turneria (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 15:101-117.
  • Shattuck S. O. 1994. Taxonomic catalog of the ant subfamilies Aneuretinae and Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). University of California Publications in Entomology 112: i-xix, 1-241.
  • Wheeler W.M. 1934. Formicidae of the Templeton Crocker expedition, 1933. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 21(14): 173-181.
  • Wheeler W.M. 1935. Check list of the ants of Oceania. Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum 11(11):1-56.
  • Wheeler, William Morton. 1934. Formicidae of the Templeton Crocker Expedition, 1933. California Academy of Sciences. 21(14):173-181.
  • Wheeler, William Morton.1935.Checklist of the Ants of Oceania.Occasional Papers 11(11): 3-56
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