Polyrhachis micans

Kohout (2013): Polyrhachis micans is the oldest known species of micans group, apparently first collected by Amelia Dietrich, a collector ‘extraordinaire’ for the former Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg. In spite of being a well known species occurring in an easily accessible part of the country, from about Mackay south to Gladstone, P. micans is poorly represented in most collections examined. It has apparently become a relatively rare species, perhaps due to the clearance of its natural habitat for vast areas of sugar cane plantations.

Identification
Polyrhachis micans is characterised by a petiole armed with four, almost uniformly distributed spines of subequal length. It is rather similar to Polyrhachis eureka, described above, sharing with that species the very finely, mostly longitudinally striate head and mesosoma, however, the sculpturation in P. eureka is distinctly coarser, notably on the mesosomal dorsum. Additional characters separating the species are given under P. eureka.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Nomenclature

 *  micans. Polyrhachis micans Mayr, 1876: 76 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA. Combination in P. (Campomyrma): Santschi, 1920g: 185.

Additional References

 * Kohout, R.J. 2013. A review of the Polyrhachis gravis and micans species-groups of the subgenus Campomyrma Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Nature 56, 92-117.