Dolichoderus niger

Dolichoderus niger is restricted to low mallee and scrub habitats across southern Western Australia. It has been collected only a handful of times, including in relictual native woodlands in the Perth metropolitan area (Heterick, 2009).

Identification
Pronotum rounded, lacking spines; propodeum with elongate spines which are directed upward at an angle less than 45° to the horizontal plane, in dorsal view the spines with an angle of at least 90° between their bases and this region forming a "V" with a narrowly rounded angle; dorsum of petiolar node angular; legs long and uniformly coloured dark red-brown to reddish-black.

This species most closely resembles Dolichoderus rufotibialis but can be distinguished by the uniformly coloured legs in D. niger compared to the bi-coloured legs found in D. rufotibialis, with its dark femora and lightly coloured tibiae.

Key to Australian Dolichoderus Species

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia.

Nomenclature

 *  niger. Dolichoderus (Hypoclinea) ypsilon var. nigra Crawley, 1922c: 25 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Raised to species: Shattuck & Marsden, 2013: 125.

Description
Morphologically uniform except leg colour varying from red-brown to reddish-black, and pilosity on first gastral tergite mostly dense but occasionally noticeably more sparse.

Measurements (n=5). CI 90–99; EI 22–25; EL 0.29–0.32; HL 1.27–1.43; HW 1.20–1.39; ML 1.76–2.11; MTL 1.13–1.35; PronI 71.56–78.84; PronW 0.87–0.99; SI 109–117; SL 1.36–1.51.

Additional References

 * [[Media:Crawley 1922e.pdf|Crawley, W. C. 1922e. New ants from Australia (concluded from vol. ix. p. 449). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 9(10): 16-36 PDF]]
 * Shattuck, S.O. & Marsden, S. 2013. Australian species of the ant genus Dolichoderus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3716, 101–143 (doi 10.11646/zootaxa.3716.2.1).