Turneria

The majority of Turneria species are found in rainforests although they are occasionally encountered in tropical dry sclerophyll woodlands and one species in temperate forests of southern Australia. As far as known all species live in trees above the ground and nest in dead twigs where they form small colonies which contain less than 500 workers. Once away from the nest foragers travel singly, searching on vegetation for suitable prey. They are not commonly collected although this is likely due to their small colony size and tree-nesting habits.

Identification
Workers of Turneria may be recognized among the Dolichoderinae by their elongate compound eyes, broadly convex to concave anterior clypeal margin which lacks a central angle or projection, the close approximation of the posterior terminus of the frontal carinae to the inner margins of the compound eyes and the dorsal placement of the propodeal spiracle near the propodeal angle. Additionally, most species lack pilosity on the dorsum of the head and mesosoma (present in a few species), generally have protuberances at the propodeal angle (lacking in T. rosschinga) and with the posterior propodeal face concave (short and flat in T. rosschinga). In all known species the petiolar scale is present, inclined anteriorly and nodiform, and the sculpture is weakly (integument shiny) to moderately (integument subopaque) imbricate.

Castes


Worker of T. bidentata from Queensland.

Nomenclature

 *  TURNERIA [Dolichoderinae: Leptomyrmecini]
 * Turneria Forel, 1895f: 419. Type-species: Turneria bidentata, by monotypy.

Additional References

 * Forel, A. (1895) Nouvelles fourmis d'Australie, récoltées à The Ridge, Mackay, Queensland, par M. Gilbert Turner. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 39, 417-428.
 * Shattuck, S.O. (1990) Revision of the dolichoderine ant genus Turneria (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 15, 101-117.
 * Shattuck, S.O. (2011) Turneria rosschinga sp.n. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a new dolichoderine ant from Australia. Myrmecological News 15, 125-128.