Dolichoderus goudiei

Dolichoderus goudiei occurs in dry sclerophyll and savannah woodlands across south-eastern Australia from the ACT to south-eastern South Australia. It has been found foraging on low vegetation and tree trunks. It was intercepted in New Zealand on orchid blooms shipped from Sydney, but has not become established there (Don, 2007).

Identification
Sculpturing on head minimal, either essentially absent or consisting of very fine reticulations; colour of head reddish-brown to black; pronotum and propodeum lacking spines; posterior face of propodeum weakly concave, separated from the dorsal face by at most a weakly defined angle; first tergite of gaster with elongate, erect hairs, and fine, silvery appressed pubescence.

This species most closely resembles Dolichoderus australis, however D. goudiei has appressed pubescence on the first tergite of the gaster, which D. australis lacks (both species have elongate, erect hairs on the first gastral tergite).

Identification Keys including this Taxon

 * Key to Australian Dolichoderus Species

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Nomenclature

 *  goudiei. Dolichoderus (Hypoclinea) goudiei Clark, 1930b: 264, fig. 17 (w.) AUSTRALIA.

Worker
Black. Mandibles, antennae and legs brown.

Subopaque. Head retiCUlate-punctate, the punctures large and scattered. Mandibles finely punctate. Pronotum smooth, microscopically punctate, with some large scattered punctures. Mesonotum finely rugose; epinotum coarsely so. Gaster densely and microscopically punctate.

Hair yellow, erect, moderately long and abundant throughout. Pubescence yellow, rather long and close lying, longer and more abundant on the gaster, where it forms a distinct clothing almost hiding the sculpture.

Head slightly longer than broad, the occipital border straight, or very feebly convex, the sides convex. Frontal carinae hardly diverging, a little longer than their distance apart. Clypeus convex above, with a deep longitudinal groove in the middle from the base to the anterior border, the latter convex, excised in the middle. Scapes extending beyond the occipital border by fully one-fourth of their length; first segment of the funiculus one-fifth longer than the second, the third slightly shorter than the second. Masticatory border of the mandibles with fine denticles; the terminal border with ten to twelve strong sharp teeth. Thorax barely twice as long as broad. Pronotum one-fourth broader than long, flattened above. Mesonotum convex above. Epinotum slightly longer than broad, convex; in profile the dorsum convex, dome-shaped, the declivity as long as the dorsum, concave towards the bottom, the slightly overhanging superior border and sides margined. Node four times broader than long; in profile scale-like, thick at the base and tapering to a blunt point above. Gaster feebly concave in front below. Legs robust.

Shattuck and Marsden (2013) - Measurements (n=5). CI 86–89; EI 33–36; EL 0.28–0.30; HL 0.93–0.99; HW 0.80–0.88; ML 1.22–1.34; MTL 0.68–0.76; PronI 62.27–63.34; PronW 0.50–0.56; SI 108–110; SL 0.88–0.96.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * CSIRO Collection
 * Shattuck S. O., and S. Marsden. 2013. Australian species of the ant genus Dolichoderus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3716(2): 101-143.
 * Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.