Myrmecia brevinoda

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia, New Zealand.

Biology


Myrmecia brevinoda, one of the largest ants, together with one of the smallest, Carebara atoma, photographed using an electron microscope (both from northern Queensland, Australia). One of the reasons ants are so successful is because of their great morphological diversity. This diversity also extends to their life history and ecology.

A large nest of Myrmecia brevinoda (with a mound 70cm tall) in north Queensland contained 2576 workers and 1 queen (Higashi & Peeters 1990). Other small ants, termites and various insect larvae were also found in uninhabited parts of the mound. Although workers exhibit considerable size variation (length: 13-36 mm), relative growth (head length versus head width) among workers is not allometric. Thus workers are monomorphic although they fall into 2 obvious size classes which overlap broadly. Small workers were abundant in the lower parts of the nest while larger workers prevailed in the upper parts. Field observations confirmed the occurrence of size polyethism, i.e. larger workers were engaged in hunting, defence and extranidal building, while smaller workers excavated soil from inside the nest. Another nest identified as M. brevinoda from the vicinity of Armidale (northern NSW) lacked any conspicuous mound. Over 1200 workers were collected together with cocoons enclosing winged queens (C. Peeters unpubl.).

See Nests.



Castes
Clark (1951) described both winged and ergatoid queens in this species, together with size-polymorphic workers.



Nomenclature

 *  brevinoda. Myrmecia forficata var. brevinoda Forel, 1910b: 2 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1971d: 247 (l.); Imai, Crozier & Taylor, 1977: 345 (k.). Raised to species: Clark, 1951: 96. Senior synonym of gigas (and its junior synonym eudoxia): Brown, 1953j: 22; of decipians, longinodis: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653. See also: Brown, 1958h: 10.
 * gigas. Myrmecia pyriformis r. gigas Forel, 1913b: 310 (q.) AUSTRALIA. Forel, 1915: 7 (w.); Clark, 1951: 107 (m.). Raised to species and senior synonym of eudoxia: Clark, 1951: 104. Junior synonym of brevinoda: Brown, 1953j: 22.
 * eudoxia. Myrmecia forficata var. eudoxia Forel, 1915b: 8 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Raised to species: Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 35. Junior synonym of gigas: Clark, 1951: 104.
 * decipians. Myrmecia decipians Clark, 1951: 86, fig. 66 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of brevinoda: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653.
 * longinodis. Myrmecia longinodis Clark, 1951: 87, fig. 67 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of brevinoda: Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1653.