Zasphinctus imbecilis

Zasphinctus imbecilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dorylinae
Genus:	Zasphinctus
Species:	Z. imbecilis
Binomial name
Zasphinctus imbecilis (Forel, 1907) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Eusphinctus brunnicornis Clark, 1930 Eusphinctus fulvidus Clark, 1924 Eusphinctus manni Wheeler, W.M., 1918 Eusphinctus silaceus Clark, 1924

In the SWBP this species is not very often seen, but their colonies can be found under rocks or logs (Heterick 2009).

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Zasphinctus of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - Sphinctomyrmex imbecilis has a wide distribution in Australia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -26° to -34.61666667°.

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.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Cotype of Zasphinctus imbecilis. Worker. Specimen code casent0172086. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Worker. Specimen code casent0172114. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Cotype of Zasphinctus imbecilis. Worker. Specimen code casent0172118. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia.

Worker. Specimen code casent0173058. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MCZ, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Worker. Specimen code casent0173059. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MCZ, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

• imbecilis. Sphinctomyrmex froggatti subsp. imbecilis Forel, 1907h: 272 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: syntype workers, syntype ergatoid queens (numbers not stated).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Lion Mill, Stat. 99, 1905 (W. Michaelsen & R. Hartmeyer).
  • Type-depositories: ANIC, MHNG.
  • [Misspelled as imbecillis by Emery, 1911d: 7.]
  • Combination in S. (Sphinctomyrmex): Emery, 1911d: 7;
  • combination in Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus): Wheeler, W.M. 1918a: 235;
  • combination in Sphinctomyrmex: Brown, 1975: 33
  • combination in Zasphinctus: Borowiec, M.L. 2016: 243.
  • Subspecies of froggatti: Emery, 1911d: 7.
  • Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1918a: 235; Brown, 1975: 33, 76; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392; Heterick, 2009: 131.
  • Senior synonym of brunnicornis: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.
  • Senior synonym of fulvidus: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.
  • Senior synonym of manni: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.
  • Senior synonym of silaceus: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.
  • Distribution: Australia.
• brunnicornis. Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) brunnicornis Clark, 1930c: 2, fig. 1 (no. 1) (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Collie (J. Clark).
  • Type-depository: MVMA.
  • Junior synonym of imbecilis: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.
• fulvidus. Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) fulvidus Clark, 1924a: 75, fig. 2 (w.q.l.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: 680 syntype workers, 1 syntype ergatoid queen.
  • [Note: numbers given by Clark in text.]
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Mundaring (J. Clark).
  • Type-depository: MVMA.
  • Junior synonym of imbecilis: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.
• manni. Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) manni Wheeler, W.M. 1918a: 236, fig. 6 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (New South Wales).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “numerous”), 1 syntype ergatoid queen.
  • Type-locality: Australia: New South Wales, Blue Mts, Leura, xii.1916 (W.M. Mann).
  • Type-depository: MCZC.
  • Junior synonym of imbecilis: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.
• silaceus. Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) silaceus Clark, 1924a: 77, fig. 3 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “a large number”).
  • Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Armadale (J. Clark).
  • Type-depository: MVMA.
  • Junior synonym of imbecilis: Brown, 1975: 33; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 50; Taylor, 1987a: 73; Bolton, 1995b: 392.

Type Material

• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) brunnicornis: Syntype, worker(s), Collie, Western Australia, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) fulvidus: Syntype, 3 workers, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Australian Museum.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) fulvidus: Syntype, 6 workers, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) fulvidus: Syntype, worker, queen, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) fulvidus: Syntype, 3 workers, Mundaring, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) manni: Syntype, 3 workers, Leura, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) manni: Syntype, 11 workers and queens, Leura, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) silaceus: Syntype, worker, Armadale, Western Australia, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
• Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus) silaceus: Syntype, 2 workers, Armadale, Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.
• Sphinctomyrmex froggatti imbecilis: Syntype, 1 worker, Mount Helena (as Lion Mill), Western Australia, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.
• Sphinctomyrmex froggatti imbecilis: Syntype, worker(s), Mount Helena (as Lion Mill), Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
• Sphinctomyrmex froggatti imbecilis: Syntype, 1 worker, Mount Helena (as Lion Mill), Western Australia, Australia, Western Australian Museum.

References

• Borowiec, M.L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1-280 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.608.9427).
• Borowiec, M.L. 2019. Convergent evolution of the army ant syndrome and congruence in big-data phylogenetics. Systematic Biology 68, 642–656 (doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy088).
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1975. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. V. Ponerinae, tribes Platythyreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search Agric. (Ithaca N. Y.) 5(1 1: 1-115 (page 33, Combination in Sphinctomyrmex, senior synonym of brunnicornis, fulvidus, manni and silaceus)
• Clark, J. (1923). Australian Formicidae. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 9 : 72–89.
• Clark, J. (1930). New Formicidae, with notes on some little-known species. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. (n.s.) 43 : 2–25.
• Forel, A. 1907j. Formicidae. In: Michaelsen, W., Hartmeyer, R. (eds.) Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Band I, Lieferung 7. Jena: Gustav Fischer, pp. 263-310. (page 272, worker, queen described)
• Heterick, B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76:1-206.
• 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).
• Wheeler, W. M. 1918a. The Australian ants of the ponerine tribe Cerapachyini. Proc. Am. Acad. Arts Sci. 53: 215-265 (page 235, Combination in Eusphinctus (Nothosphinctus), raised to species)