Polyrhachis flavicornis

Identification
Kohout (2008) - Polyrhachis fruhstorferi bears a close resemblance to Polyrhachis flavicornis, a species that is widely distributed throughout South East Asia, including Borneo. In contrast, P. fruhstorferi appears to be endemic to Sulawesi. The outline and sculpturation of the head and mesosoma is very similar in both species and they have an almost identical configuration of the petiolar spines. I believe that P. fruhstorferi could prove to be just a population of P. flavicornis, but a more detailed study of the geographic variation of the latter species will be necessary to ascertain their true relationship.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore. Oriental Region: Laos, Thailand.

Nomenclature

 *  flavicornis. Polyrhachis flavicornis Smith, F. 1857a: 63 (w.q.) SINGAPORE. Combination in P. (Myrmatopa): Donisthorpe, 1932c: 446.

One worker syntype and one alate queen syntype in. Labelled “SING. 16” (= Singapore) and with a Donisthorpe type-label.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Jaitrong W., B. Guenard, E. P. Economo, N. Buddhakala, and S. Yamane. 2016. A checklist of known ant species of Laos (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Asian Myrmecology 8: 1-32. DOI: 10.20362/am.008019
 * Noon-anant N., S. Watanasit, S. Yamane, and D. Wiwatwitaya. 2008. Nesting habits of Polyrhachis (Myrmatopa) flavicornis (Formicidae: Formicinae) in the lowland tropical rain forest of Peninsulat Thailand. Sociobiology 51(1): 73-86.
 * Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
 * Robson Simon Database Polyrhachis -05 Sept 2014