Rhytidoponera rufiventris

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Nomenclature

 *  rufiventris. Rhytidoponera convexa var. rufiventris Forel, 1915b: 11 (w.m.) AUSTRALIA. Raised to species and senior synonym of castanea: Clark, 1936: 83. See also: Brown, 1958g: 278.
 * castanea. Rhytidoponera castanea Crawley, 1925b: 589 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of rufiventris: Clark, 1936: 83.

Worker
Crawley (1925) - Length 7.5-8 mm.

Head, thorax, petiole, and scapes red-brown, funiculi lighter, especially the apical joints; rest of body and legs bright castaneous red.

A few hairs on the upper and under surfaces of head and under surface of pronotum, and on the apical segments of gaster, one or two on the node, scapes with a few short ones, the funiculi pubescent; rest, including legs, glabrous.

Head about as broad as long, slightly broader in front, the sides feebly convex. Occiput with a small transverse crest depressed in centre, causing the posterior angles to be prominent and incline forwards. Mandibles minutely dentate, the basal border about four-fifths as long as the terminal. Anterior border of clypeus forms a wide angle, the margin is impressed. Frontal carinae less than three-fifths as wide behind as in front. Eyes prominent, placed well behind the middle of sides. Scapes pass the occiput by one-third of their length.

Pronotum broader than long, the sides fairly straight; there are no prominent angles. The inferior angles bear a small tooth. The dorsum of pronotum and mesonotum form an even curve broken by the suture; there is also a slight concavity at the junction of meso- and epinotum; base of latter feebly convex, the declivity flattened.

Petiole from above almost twice as wide as long, in profile it is narrower above, the top flat, the sides formed by nearly straight lines, the anterior border becoming concave at the stalk. Beneath in front is the usual tooth. Postpetiole rather narrow in front, broader than long, slightly overhanging in front, the following segments as broad and somewhat shorter.

Mandibles finely striate with scattered superficial points. Whole of upper surface of head coarsely reticulate-punctate and shining, though the bottoms of the punctures are superficially reticulate; the sides and under surface with superficial reticulation having a longitudinal direction, interspersed with shallow scattered punctures. Head behind occipital crest shining, superficially punctate. Scapes longitudinally striate.

Dorsum of thorax similar to head, but the ground sculpture more evident; pronotum with slight transverse striation in front. Similar striation shows between the meso- and epinotum. Declivity coarsely transversely striate. Sides of thorax similar to sides of head. Top of node with concentric striae and superficial punctures; the striae encircle the whole node, but at the sides they are broken by punctures. Postpetiole and the following two segments with fine arched striae, giving a silky appearance. On the gastric segments the striae become more transverse. Along the apical borders of the postpetiole and the following segment the striae are transverse and coarser. Coxae reticulate-striate, femora circularly and tibial longitudinally striate with scattered points.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Clark J. 1936. A revision of Australian species of Rhytidoponera Mayr (Formicidae). Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 9: 14-89
 * Forel A. 1915. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-13. 2. Ameisen. Ark. Zool. 9(16): 1-119