Parvaponera darwinii

Parvaponera darwinii is widely distributed from India, through Southeast Asia to Melanesia and northern Australia. Alate queens are often collected at lights. Japanese distribution is apparently limited to the Ryukyus (Terayama, 1985; Japanese Ant Image Database).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Chad, Ivory Coast, Mali. Australasian Region: Australia. Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands. Oriental Region: India, Myanmar , Sri Lanka, Vietnam. Palaearctic Region: China, Israel, Japan, Malta.

Japan (Nansei Is (Okinawa I., Iriomote I.)).

Nomenclature

 * . Belonopelta darwinii Forel, 1893d: 460 (q.) AUSTRALIA (Northern Territory).
 * Type-material: holotype queen.
 * Type-locality: Australia: Port Darwin (J.J. Walker).
 * Type-depository: MHNG.
 * [Misspelled as dawini by Santschi, 1914d: 318.]
 * Terayama, 1990: 897 (w.).
 * Combination in Pachycondyla (Pseudoponera): Emery, 1900d: 668;
 * combination in Pseudoponera: Bingham, 1903: 93;
 * combination in Euponera (Trachymesopus): Emery, 1911d: 86;
 * combination in Trachymesopus: Wilson, 1958d: 353;
 * combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 304;
 * combination in Parvaponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 200.
 * Status as species: Forel, 1899d: 320; Emery, 1900d: 668; Emery, 1901a: 46; Emery, 1901f: 113; Bingham, 1903: 93; Emery, 1911d: 86; Santschi, 1914d: 318; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 56; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 65; Wilson, 1958d: 353; Collingwood, 1962: 224; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 52; Taylor, 1987a: 80; Morisita, et al. 1989: 20; Terayama, 1990: 897; Bolton, 1995b: 304; Schembri & Collingwood, 1995: 153; Xu, 1995b: 104 (in key); Tiwari, 1999: 30; Imai, et al. 2003: 211; Lin & Wu, 2003: 67; Framenau & Thomas, 2008: 80; Terayama, 2009: 106 (in key); Vonshak, et al. 2009: 46; Zhou & Ran, 2010: 108; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 60; Sarnat, et al. 2013: 73; Borowiec, L. 2014: 141 (see note in bibliography) ; Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 53.
 * Senior synonym of indica Emery: Lin & Wu, 2003: 68; Terayama, 2009: 104.
 * Senior synonym of indica Forel: Lin & Wu, 2003: 68 (by implication); Terayama, 2009: 104 (by implication).
 * Senior synonym of lamarki: Brown, 1963: 6; Bolton, 1995b: 304.
 * Senior synonym of rufotestaceus: Brown, 1963: 6; Bolton, 1995b: 304.
 * Distribution:
 * Afrotropical: Congo.
 * Austral: Australia,
 * Malesian: Christmas I., Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Java, Sumatra), Malaysia (Peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak), Papua New Guinea, Philippines (Luzon, Negos), Singapore, Solomon Is, Vanuatu.
 * Oriental: China, India, Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand.
 * Palaearctic: Malta, Israel.
 * Current subspecies: nominal plus africana, madecassa.
 * indica. Belonopelta darwini var. indica Emery, 1899f: 268 (footnote) (q.) MYANMAR.
 * Type-material: holotype queen.
 * Type-locality: Myanmar: “Alta Birmania” (Doherty).
 * Type-depository: MSNG.
 * Combination in Pachycondyla (Pseudoponera): Emery, 1901a: 46;
 * combination in Euponera (Pseudoponera): Forel, 1901f: 343;
 * combination in Pseudoponera: Bingham, 1903: 93;
 * combination in Euponera (Trachymesopus): Emery, 1911d: 86;
 * combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 306;
 * combination in Parvaponera: Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, 2014: 200.
 * Subspecies of dawinii: Forel, 1901f: 343; Forel, 1901h: 46; Forel, 1911a: 23; Forel, 1911d: 382; Emery, 1911d: 86; Forel, 1913f: 184; Forel, 1913k: 8; Viehmeyer, 1916a: 114; Viehmeyer, 1916b: 284; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 56; Wheeler, W.M. 1923b: 1; Wheeler, W.M. & Chapman, 1925: 68; Santschi, 1928h: 122; Wheeler, W.M. 1929g: 59; Wheeler, W.M. 1930h: 60; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 65; Baltazar, 1966: 244; Bolton, 1995b: 306; Pfeiffer, et al. 2011: 57.
 * Junior synonym of darwinii: Lin & Wu, 2003: 68; Teryama, 2009: 104.
 * indica. Belonopelta darwinii var. indica Forel, 1900d: 320 (q.) INDIA (no state data).
 * Type-material: syntype queens (number not stated).
 * Type-localities: India: Poona (Wroughton), and Kanara (Wroughton).
 * Type-depository: MHNG.
 * [Unresolved junior primary homonym of Belonopelta darwini var. indica Emery, 1899f: 268.]
 * Subspecies of darwinii: Bingham, 1903: 93.
 * Junior synonym of indica Emery: Emery, 1911d: 86; Bolton, 1995b: 306.
 * Junior synonym of darwinii: Lin & Wu, 2003: 68 (by implication); Teryama, 2009: 104 (by implication).
 * lamarki. Euponera (Trachymesopus) lamarki Santschi, 1913c: 303 (q.) CONGO.
 * Type-material: holotype queen.
 * Type-locality: Congo: Dar Banda méridional (Decorse).
 * Type-depository: NHMB.
 * Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 779; Santschi, 1930a: 54.
 * Junior synonym of darwinii: Brown, 1963: 6; Bolton, 1995b: 306.
 * rufotestaceus. Cryptopone rufotestaceus Donisthorpe, 1943b: 197 (q.) INDIA (Kerala).
 * Type-material: 3 syntype queens.
 * Type-locality: India: Travancore, Tenmalai, 500-800 ft, 11-17.x.1938, Colombo Museum Expd. (no collector’s name).
 * Type-depository: BMNH.
 * Combination in Trachymesopus: Wilson, 1958d: 361 (footnote).
 * Status as species: Chapman & Capco, 1951: 53; Wilson, 1958d: 361 (footnote); Tiwari, 1999: 30 (error).
 * Junior synonym of darwinii: Brown, 1963: 6; Bolton, 1995b: 309.

Description
Queen

Bingham (1903) - Brownish yellow all over, on the head and thorax; head. in some specimens darkening thorax and abdomen minutely and densely punctate, rugulose and subopaque; entirely covered with very fine short silky yellow pubescence, as in P. amblyops most conspicuous on the head in front; pilosity fairly abundant, long and soft towards the apex of the abdomen. Head without the mandibles rectangular, nearly square, slightly and broadly emarginate posteriorly, the sides slightly convex, the posterior and anterior margins about the same breadth; mandibles long, triangular, the masticatory margin armed with 7 teeth alternately large and small: clypeus with the median lobe shorter and less pronounced than in P. amblyops; eyes and ocelli large and conspicuous, the former nearly touching the bases of the mandibles. Thorax, legs, pedicel and abdomen with the characters as in the genus.

Length: 4.5 mm

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bolton, B. 1998. A preliminary analysis of the ants of the Pasoh Forest Reserve. Pp. 84-95 in: Lee, S. S.; Dan, Y. M.; Gauld, I. D.; Bishop, J. (eds.) Conservation, management and development of forest resources. Proceedings of the Malaysia-United Kingdom Programme Workshop 21-24 October 1996. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute for Environment and Development, 392 pp.: 84-95
 * 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
 * Collingwood C. A. 1962. Some ants (Hym. Formicidae) from north-east Asia. Entomologisk Tidskrift 83: 215-230.
 * Dad J. M., S. A. Akbar, H. Bharti, and A. A. Wachkoo. 2019. Community structure and ant species diversity across select sites ofWestern Ghats, India. Acta Ecologica Sinica 39: 219–228.
 * Dias R. K. S. 2002. Current knowledge on ants of Sri Lanka. ANeT Newsletter 4: 17- 21.
 * Emery C. 1901. Ameisen gesammelt in Ceylon von Dr. W. Horn 1899. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1901: 113-122.
 * 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.
 * Forel A. 1901. Formiciden des Naturhistorischen Museums zu Hamburg. Neue Calyptomyrmex-, Dacryon-, Podomyrma- und Echinopla-Arten. Mitt. Naturhist. Mus. Hambg. 18: 43-82.
 * Framenau V.W., and M.L. Thomas. 2008. Ants of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean); identification and distribution. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25: 45-85.
 * Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
 * Hua Li-zhong. 2006. List of Chinese insects Vol. IV. Pages 262-273. Sun Yat-sen university Press, Guangzhou. 539 pages.
 * Janda M., G. D. Alpert, M. L. Borowiec, E. P. Economo, P. Klimes, E. Sarnat, and S. O. Shattuck. 2011. Cheklist of ants described and recorded from New Guinea and associated islands. Available on http://www.newguineants.org/. Accessed on 24th Feb. 2011.
 * Li Z.h. 2006. List of Chinese Insects. Volume 4. Sun Yat-sen University Press
 * Terayama M. 1985. Trachymesopus darwini (FOREL), Pentastruma sauteri FOREL and Rhopalomastix sp. Were collected from the Nansei Islands; tribe Melissotarsini is new to Japan. Ari 13: 8
 * Terayama M. 1990. Discovery of worker caste in Trachymesopus darwinii (Forel, 1893). Japanese Journal of Entomology 58: 897-898
 * Terayama M. 1992. Structure of ant communities in East Asia. A. Regional differences and species richness. Bulletin of the Bio-geographical Society of Japan 47: 1-31.
 * 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 M., S. Kubota, and K. Eguchi. 2014. Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, 278 pp.
 * 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.
 * Tiwari R. N. 1999. Taxonomic studies on ants of southern India (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Memoirs of the Zoological Survey of India 18(4): 1-96.
 * Tiwari, R.N. 1999. Taxonomic studies on ants of southern India (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Memoirs of the Zoological Survey of India 18(4):1-96
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. IX. A synonymic list of the ants of the Malagasy region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 1005-1055
 * Wilson E. O. 1958. Studies on the ant fauna of Melanesia III. Rhytidoponera in western Melanesia and the Moluccas. IV. The tribe Ponerini. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 119: 303-371.
 * Wilson Edward O. 1959. Adaptive Shift and Dispersal in a Tropical Ant Fauna. Evolution 13(1): 122-144
 * Yamane S., S. Ikudome, and M. Terayama. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp, 138-317.
 * Yamane S.; Ikudome, S.; Terayama, M. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp138-317.
 * Zryanin V. A. 2011. An eco-faunistic review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). In: Structure and functions of soil communities of a monsoon tropical forest (Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam) / A.V. Tiunov (Editor). – M.: KMK Scientific Press. 2011. 277 р.101-124.