Polyrhachis andromache

In Australia, P. andromache is restricted to the lowland rainforests of Cape York Peninsula north of the 14° parallel where it is relatively common. It is characterised by its abundant, distinctly golden or silvery pubescence and yellow or orange-coloured appendages. Polyrhachis andromache builds nests of silk and vegetation debris in various tree cavities, but also within the hollow internodes of standing bamboo (Kohout 1988b, 1989, 1999; Robson & Kohout 2007) (from Kohout, 2012).

Nomenclature

 * hector. Polyrhachis hector Smith, F. 1859a: 142 (w.) INDONESIA (Aru I.). [Junior primary homonym of hector Smith, above.] Replacement name: andromache Roger, 1863b: 8.
 * chaonia. Polyrhachis chaonia Smith, F. 1861b: 42, pl. 1, fig. 18 (q.) INDONESIA (Halmahera I.). Combination in P. (Myrma): Emery, 1925b: 200. Junior synonym of ithona: Bolton, 1974b: 177; of andromache: Dorow, 1995: 31.
 *  andromache. Polyrhachis andromache Roger, 1863b: 8. Replacement name for hector Smith, F. 1859a: 142. [Junior primary homonym of hector Smith, F. 1857a: 62.] Donisthorpe, 1949g: 420 (m.); Kohout, 1989: 510 (w.q.). Combination in P. (Myrma): Forel, 1915b: 110. Subspecies of relucens: Emery, 1897d: 579; Forel, 1901b: 28. Senior synonym of connectens: Emery, 1897d: 580. Junior synonym of ithona: Bolton, 1974b: 177. Revived from synonymy, revived status as species and senior synonym of australiae: Kohout, 1988c: 430. Senior synonym of semirufipes and material of the unavailable name harmsi referred here: Kohout, 1998: 521.
 * australiae. Polyrhachis connectens var. australiae Emery, 1887a: 231 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Combination in P. (Myrma): Emery, 1925b: 202. Junior synonym of relucens: Emery, 1893e: 228; of andromache: Emery, 1896d: 379. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of relucens: Taylor & Brown, D.R. 1985: 140. Junior synonym of andromache: Kohout, 1988c: 431.
 * connectens. Polyrhachis connectens Emery, 1887a: 230, pl. 4, fig. 19 (w.) NEW GUINEA. Subspecies of relucens: Dalla Torre, 1893: 267; Emery, 1896d: 379. Junior synonym of andromache: Emery, 1897d: 580.
 * semirufipes. Polyrhachis (Myrma) proxima var. semirufipes Donisthorpe, 1943d: 469 (w.) NEW GUINEA. Junior synonym of andromache: Kohout, 1998: 521.

Polyrhachis hector type material.

Holotype worker from Aru Island, Indonesia (A.R.Wallace) (examined by Kohout, 2012).

Polyrhachis connectens australiae type material.

Syntype workers and queen from Somerset, Cape York, Australia (L.M. D’Albertis) (examined by Kohout, 2012).

Additional References

 * Kohout, R.J. 2012. A review of the Australian Polyrhachis ants of the subgenera Myrma Billberg, Myrmatopa Forel, Myrmothrinax Forel and Polyrhachis Fr. Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 56(1): 25-59.