Dolichoderus doriae

Dolichoderus doriae occurs in forested areas ranging from dry sclerophyll to wet sclerophyll in eastern New South Wales, the ACT and southern Victoria. Nests are most commonly in soil under and along the edges of stones and branches on the ground or occasionally in rotten wood or in debris at the base of trees. During warmer weather workers and brood commonly form balls on the surface of the ground near nest entrances. Workers forage in trails on the ground and on tree trunks.

This is one of the better studied Australian species of Dolichoderus. These studies include: Forel (1902) (male description), Clark (1934) (queen (ergatoid) description), Wheeler and Wheeler (1966) (larval description), Dazzini Valcurone and Fanfani (1982) (glandular systems) and Fanfani and Dazzini Valcurone (1991) (metapleural gland).

Identification
Pronotum and propodeum with elongate spines; pronotal spines are short and directed anteriorly and approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body, in dorsal view a line drawn between their tips intersects the pronotal collar; first gastral tergite with abundant short erect hairs and gaster with golden pubescence (less obvious in older specimens); propodeal spines and sometimes antennae are lighter in colour than nearby body regions, ranging from dark red to red-brown; legs yellow, strongly contrasting with black body.

This species differs from Dolichoderus extensispinus by having anteriorly directed pronotal spines and from other members of the doriae group (except Dolichoderus clarki) by the abundant short erect hairs on the first gastral tergite. It most closely resembles D. clarki but can be differentiated by the yellow coloured legs, in contrast to the dark legs found in D. clarki.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

There is a single record of this species from Townsville, Queensland, some 1200km north of the main range of this taxon. This collection shows typical morphology for the species and is probably a labelling error as no other records from this northern region are known.

Nomenclature

 *  doriae. Dolichoderus doriae Emery, 1887a: 252 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Forel, 1902h: 461 (m.); Clark, 1934b: 40 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1966: 726 (l.). Combination in D. (Hypoclinea): Emery, 1894c: 228; in D. (Acanthoclinea): Wheeler, W.M. 1935c: 69. See also: Clark, 1930b: 254; Shattuck, 1994: 50.

Description
Sculpturing on mesosoma always present but varying in development from covering the entire surface to more weakly developed and with limited areas of nearly smooth integument (similar to figured individual). Propodeal spines varying in length (sometimes slightly longer than shown) and spread (occasionally much narrower than as figured). Propodeal spines and sometimes antennae lighter in colour than nearby body regions, ranging from dark red to red-brown.

Measurements (n=5). CI 93–98; EI 16–20; EL 0.27–0.31; HL 1.63–1.81; HW 1.55–1.71; ML 2.54–2.76; MTL 1.65–1.83; PronI 67.50–74.11; PronW 1.05–1.20; SI 106–118; SL 1.77–1.91.

Additional References

 * Shattuck, S.O. & Marsden, S. 2013. Australian species of the ant genus Dolichoderus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3716, 101–143 (doi 10.11646/zootaxa.3716.2.1).