Dolichoderus extensispinus

Dolichoderus extensispinus occurs in forests ranging from dry sclerophyll to rainforest in a restricted region of south-eastern Queensland. It nests under stones and forages on low vegetation and trees.

Identification
Pronotum and propodeum with elongate spines; pronotal spines directed laterally and dorsally. The presence of pronotal spines directed laterally and dorsally will distinguish D. extensispinus from all other Australian Dolichoderus species.

Identification Keys including this Taxon

 * Key to Australian Dolichoderus Species

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

There is a single specimen, collected many years ago, labelled as being from Cairns, some 2000kms north of the main range of this species. Given that the species has not been collected in this area since this record should be considered suspect and it is unlikely that this species occurs there.

Nomenclature

 *  extensispinus. Dolichoderus doriae r. extensispina Forel, 1915b: 76 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Combination in D. (Acanthoclinea): Wheeler, W.M. 1935c: 69. Raised to species: Clark, 1930b: 256. [Both Wheeler and Clark misspell the name as extensispinosa.]

Worker
Clark (1930) - Brown. Mandibles, antennae and legs reddish, epinotum and spines more or less reddish.

Shining. Head, thorax and dorsum of the node coarsely and irregularly punctate, clypeus more finely so. Mandibles finely reticulate, with sparse shallow punctures. Gaster microscopically punctate.

Hair yellow, erect, moderately long and abundant throughout. Pubescence yellow, apparent only on the gaster, where it forms a dense golden clothing, completely hiding the sculpture.

Head longer than broad, almost as broad in front as behind, occipital border and sides convex. Frontal carinae feebly diverging behind, their distance apart equal to their length. The anterior border of the clypeus convex, with a slight concave excision at the middle. Eyes globular, placed slightly behind the middle of the sides. Scapes extending beyond the occipital border by fully one-third of their length; first segment of the funiculus barely twice as long as the second, third as long as the second. Mandibles with the masticatory border finely denticulate, the terminal border with nine to ten sharp teeth. Thorax two and a quarter times longer than broad. Pronotum one-fourth broader than long, furnished with a long slender spine on each side in front, directed outward at a right angle and slightly upward. Mesonotum longer than broad; in profile somewhat saddle-shaped, convex in front, concave behind. Epinotum longer than broad, furnished with two long slender spines directed upward, backward and outward; in profile they are abruptly bent backward near the base, then rise at an angle of forty degrees, the dorsum straight, the declivity at an obtuse angle. Node twice as broad as long, the anterior face feebly concave, the posterior face straight, the sides and top convex. Gaster longer than broad, concave in front below. Legs long and slender.

Shattuck and Marsden (2013) - The available material shows little morphological variation.

Measurements (n=5). CI 90–94; EI 21–22; EL 0.36–0.42; HL 1.84–2.06; HW 1.65–1.92; ML 2.72–3.07; MTL 2.02–2.25; PronI 61.36–66.81; PronW 1.07–1.25; SI 106–115; SL 1.90–2.07.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Baroni Urbani C. 1977. Katalog der Typen von Formicidae (Hymenoptera) der Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Basel (2. Teil). Mitt. Entomol. Ges. Basel (n.s.) 27: 61-102.