Ooceraea australis

Heterick collected this species from under a rock on Mt Brown, near York in the western wheatbelt (WA). The workers were in enormous numbers and attached to one another by their mandibles, the insects falling away from the underside of the rock in huge, tangled skeins. The appearance of the colony, without any evidence of nest holes, suggested bivouacking in the manner of army ants. (as reported for the synonym O. edentatus, Heterick 2009).

Distribution
Heterick (2009), as reported for the synonym O. edentatus: occasionally collected around Perth, even in Perth suburbs that retain some native vegetation, but has also been recorded in the ACT, NSW and Qld.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Nomenclature

 * . Syscia autralis Forel, 1900b: 68 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
 * Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
 * Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Mackay (Turner).
 * Type-depositories: ANIC, MHNG, NHMB.
 * [Justified emendation of spelling to australis: Emery, 1911d: 12.]
 * Wheeler, G.C & Wheeler, J. 1973d: 205 (l.).
 * Combination in Cerapachys (Syscia): Emery, 1902c: 24;
 * combination in Ooceraea: Borowiec, M.L. 2016: 198.
 * Status as species: Emery, 1911d: 10; Wheeler, W.M. 1918a: 263 (redescription); Crawley, 1915a: 133; Brown, 1975: 22, 72 (as edentata); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 24; Taylor, 1987a: 17; Bolton, 1995b: 143; Heterick, 2009: 126.
 * Synonym of edentata: Brown, 1975: 22, 72; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 24; Taylor, 1987a: 17; Bolton, 1995b: 142; Zhou, Chen & Chen 2020: 142 (in key).
 * [Note: all these authors give edentata as senior synonym, but australis has priority. The error arose from Brown’s assumption that australis was a junior homonym, which is not the case.]
 * Distribution: Australia.
 * edentata. Syscia australis var. edentata Forel, 1900b: 69 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
 * Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
 * Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Mackay (Turner).
 * Type-depositories: ANIC, MHNG.
 * [Misspelled as edentula by Emery, 1911d: 10.]
 * Combination in Cerapachys (Syscia): Emery, 1911d: 10.
 * Subspecies of australis: Emery, 1911d: 10; Wheeler, W.M. 1918a: 264.
 * Synonym of australis: Brown, 1975: 22, 72; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 24; Taylor, 1987a: 17; Bolton, 1995b: 142.
 * [Note: all these authors give edentata as senior synonym, but australis has priority. The error arose from Brown’s assumption that australis was a junior homonym, which is not the case.]

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Brown W. L., Jr. 1975. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. V. Ponerinae, tribes Platythyreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search Agric. (Ithaca N. Y.) 5(1): 1-115.
 * CSIRO Collection
 * Forel A. 1900. Ponerinae et Dorylinae d'Australie récoltés par MM. Turner, Froggatt, Nugent, Chase, Rothney, J.-J. Walker, etc. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 44: 54-77.
 * Heterick B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 76: 1-206.