Polyrhachis murina

Identification
A member of the Polyrhachis aculeata species group in the subgenus Myrma

Polyrhachis murina is morphologically a relatively stable species with specimens from Borneo and Sumatra closely comparable. Apart from some differences in the length of the pronotal spines, length and shape of the lateral petiolar spines and colour of the pubescence, which ranges from golden to silvery or just dull greyish, I found them all very similar and undoubtedly conspecific. (Kohout, 2013)

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

Images from AntWeb
Sexuals and immature stages unknown.

Nomenclature

 *  murina. Polyrhachis murina Emery, 1893e: 198 (w.) BORNEO. Combination in P. (Myrma): Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 123.

Kohout (2013) - In his original description of P. murina, Emery (1893) listed Sarawak in Borneo and Jolo in the Philippines as localities for his new species, evidently considering specimens from both locations to be conspecific. I have examined two syntype workers of P. murina from Sarawak in the Emery collection in Genova, both bearing identical labels as follows: ‘Sarawak, Bedot’ and ‘Polyrhachis murina Emery’. I have also examined three additional specimens from Sumatra, deposited in the general collection of that museum and labelled ‘P. murina teste Emery’, and several specimens identified as P. murina from the Philippines. This examination has shown that specimens from the Philippines stand well apart from the syntypes of P. murina from Sarawak, with a number of characters exceeding the variability that would be expected between different populations of a single biological species. I therefore believe that the Philippine specimens represent a different species from P. murina, which is described as Polyrhachis starri.

Worker
Kohout (2013) - Dimensions (lectotype cited first): TL c. 6.75, 6.55-7.00; HL 1.78, 1.75-1.87; HW 1.40, 1.34-1.43; CI 79, 75-79; SL 2.21, 2.12-2.31; SI 158, 158-165; PW 1.22, 1.15-1.28; MTL 2.21, 2.12-2.31 (1+4 measured).

Type Material
Kohout (2013) - Lectotype designation. To establish the nomenclatural stability of Polyrhachis murina and to prevent any future selection of a lectotype from specimens other than those from Sarawak, I here designate, in accordance with Article 74.7.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999), one of the syntype workers from Sarawak mentioned above as the lectotype of Polyrhachis murina Emery, 1893. The specimen is lodged in the Emery collection and, in addition to the labels listed above, it now also bears a red tag: ‘Lectotype, Polyrhachis murina Emery, 1893, designated by R.J. Kohout, 2013’. The remaining specimens of the original series consequently become paralectotypes and are labelled accordingly.



References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
 * Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
 * Emery C. 1893. Formicides de l'Archipel Malais. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 1: 187-229.
 * Emery C. 1923. Einige exotische Ameisen des Deutschen Entomologischen Institutes. Entomologische Mitteilungen. Berlin-Dahlem 12: 60-62.
 * Emery C. Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale 40: 661-722.
 * Emery, C. "Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genova) (2) 20, no. 40 (1900): 661-722.
 * Emery, C. "Voyage de MM. Bedot et Pictet dans l'Archipel Malais. Formicides de l'Archipel Malais." Revue Suisse de Zoologie 1 (1893): 187-229.
 * Forel A. 1911. Fourmis nouvelles ou intéressantes. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 47: 331-400.
 * Forel A. 1912. Einige neue und interessante Ameisenformen aus Sumatra etc. Zool. Jahrb. Suppl. 15: 51-78.
 * Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
 * Kohout R. J. 2013. A review of the Polyrhachis aculeata species-group of the subgenus Myrma Billberg (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae), with keys and descriptions of new species. Australian Entomologist 40(3): 137-171.
 * Li Z.h. 2006. List of Chinese Insects. Volume 4. Sun Yat-sen University Press
 * 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
 * Ran H., and S. Y. Zhou. 2013. Checklist of Chinese Ants: Formicomorph Subfamilies ( Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (III). Journal of Guangxi Normal University : Natural Science Edition 31(1): 104-111.
 * Robson Simon Database Polyrhachis -05 Sept 2014
 * Stitz H. 1925. Ameisen von den Philippinen, den malayischen und ozeanischen Inseln. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1923: 110-136.
 * Terayama M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University. Liberal Arts 17:81-266.
 * Terayama Mamoru. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta, Hymenoptera). The Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University 17: 81-266.
 * Terayama, M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta; Hymenoptera). The Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University 17: 81-266.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1909. Ants of Formosa and the Philippines. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 26: 333-345.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1919. The ants of Borneo. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 63:43-147.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1929. Ants collected by Professor F. Silvestri in Formosa, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 24: 27-64.