Myrmecia gulosa

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Biology
Colonies consist of 992± 551 workers, mean ± SD (Dietemann et al. 2002).

Castes
Worker size varies over a wide range (14 – 23 mm), exhibiting a bimodal distribution. M. gulosa is monogynous and queens are only slightly bigger than large workers, but have many more ovarioles (44 compared to 8–14 in workers; Dietemann et al. 2002). Queens are not aggressive toward workers and regulation of worker reproduction is based on cuticular hydrocarbons (Dietemann et al. 2005).

Nomenclature

 *  gulosa. Formica gulosa Fabricius, 1775: 395 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Smith, 1858b: 143 (m.); Mayr, 1876: 95 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1971d: 246 (l.); Imai, Crozier & Taylor, 1977: 345 (k.). Combination in Myrmecia: Fabricius, 1804: 424. Senior synonym of obscurior: Clark, 1951: 49. See also: Ogata, 1991a: 358.
 * obscurior. Myrmecia gulosa var. obscurior Forel, 1922: 87 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of gulosa: Clark, 1951: 49.