Tapinoma minutum

This species was studied by Herbers (1991): Nests of Tapinoma minutum were collected and mapped from a wet sclerophyll forest in New South Wales during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Queen number was variable, indicating the population is both facultatively polygynous and polydomous. Electrophoretic data from three polymorphic enzymes revealed that relatedness among workers conformed to the Hamiltonian expectation of 0.75. Colony boundaries were inferred from electrophoretic data synthesized with nest spatial locations. For this species colonies were composed of at most three nests; this simple pattern of polydomy suggests it has a recent origin in this population. The pattern of facultative polygyny may be linked to an apparent high rate of colony orphaning.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia. Indo-Australian Region: Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, New Guinea, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna Islands.

Nomenclature

 *  minutum. Tapinoma minutum Mayr, 1862: 703 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Wheeler, W.M. 1909a: 27 (q.). Combination in T. (Micromyrma): Santschi, 1928e: 472. Material of the unavailable name fullawayi referred here by Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 82. Current subspecies: nominal plus broomense, cephalicum, integrum.