Polyrhachis armata

Polyrhachis armata is a very widespread and distinctive south-east Asian species of the subgenus Myrmhopla.

Identification
A member of the Polyrhachis armata species group.

Distribution
Kohout (2008) - A relatively common species that extends from the Andaman Islands and Indo-China, including Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, eastwards to the Philippines and south to Borneo, Sumatra and Java. It was listed from Sulawesi by Emery (1901), however, I have not seen any specimens originating from east of Wallace’s line.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines. Oriental Region: Cambodia, India, Laos, Thailand. Palaearctic Region: China.

Nomenclature

 *  armata. Formica armata Le Guillou, 1842: 313 (q.) PHILIPPINES. Mayr, 1867a: 46 (w.); Karavaiev, 1927e: 29 (m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1990b: 759 (l.). Combination in Polyrhachis: Roger, 1863b: 9; in P. (Myrmhopla): Forel, 1915b: 107. Senior synonym of pandarus: Roger, 1863b: 9. Current subspecies: nominal plus defensa. See also: Bingham, 1903: 393.
 * pandarus. Polyrhachis pandarus Smith, F. 1857a: 62 (w.) BORNEO. Mayr, 1862: 679 (q.). Junior synonym of armata: Roger, 1863b: 9.

Kohout (2007) - Polyrhachis armata was originally described from the Philippines but the type material has apparently been lost. Consequently I have compared the holotype of Polyrhachis maryatiae with the available syntypes of Polyrhachis pandarus Fr. Smith and Polyrhachis armata defensa Fr. Smith (BMNH and OXUM respectively). Both species were considered by Roger (1863), Dalla Torre (1893) and Wheeler (1919) to be junior synonyms of P. armata . However, P. defensa was later revived from synonymy by Emery (1925) and considered by him and subsequent authors, including Bolton (1995) and Dorow (1995), to be a subspecies of P. armata. This decision was presumably based on variation in the colour of the gaster which is black in the nominate subspecies and reddish-brown in defensa. I strongly suspect that the subspecific status of defensa is unwarranted but am reluctant to formalise the synonymy before a more detailed examination of the variation of P. armata across its entire geographic range.

Type Material
Kohout (2008) - Holotype queen. PHILIPPINES, MINDANAO, Zamboanga, ? (type presumed lost).