Polyrhachis muelleri

A widely ranging forest species that uses larval silk to construct nests on the underside of leaves.

Identification
A member of the Polyrhachis hector species group.

Distribution
Kohout (2008) - Polyrhachis muelleri is a widespread species recorded from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra and Java.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore. Oriental Region: Thailand.

Biology
The fairly transparent silk-woven nest of about 10 cm in length is situated beneath a leaf of a ginger plant about 2 m above ground, in a primary rainforest. Larvae and pupae appear greenish; only the adult ants are black and thus well visible against the sunlight.

The biology of P. muelleri was described in detail by Dorow et al. (1990). Colonies are monogynous with 17 workers on average (n=19)

Castes
Very slight difference in body size between queens and workers (Dorow et al. 1990)

Nomenclature

 *  muelleri. Polyrhachis muelleri Forel, 1893c: 32 (w.) SINGAPORE. Forel, 1901d: 302 (q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1990b: 754 (l.). Combination in P. (Myrmhopla): Emery, 1925b: 193.

Type Material
Kohout (2008) - Syntype workers. SINGAPORE (A. Müller), (examined).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bolton, B. 1998. A preliminary analysis of the ants of the Pasoh Forest Reserve. Pp. 84-95 in: Lee, S. S.; Dan, Y. M.; Gauld, I. D.; Bishop, J. (eds.) Conservation, management and development of forest resources. Proceedings of the Malaysia-United Kingdom Programme Workshop 21-24 October 1996. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute for Environment and Development, 392 pp.: 84-95
 * Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
 * Dorow W. H. O., U. Maschwitz, and S. Rapp. 1990. The natural history of Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) muelleri Forel 1893 (Formicidae: Formicinae), a weaver ant with mimetic larvae and an unusual nesting behavior. Tropical Zoology 3: 181-190.
 * Dorow W. H. O., and U. Maschwitz. 1990. The arachne-group of Polyrhachis (Formicidae: Formicinae): weaver ants cultivating Homoptera on bamboo. Insectes Sociaux. 37: 73-89.
 * Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
 * Emery C. Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale 40: 661-722.
 * Emery, C. "Formiche raccolte da Elio Modigliani in Sumatra, Engano e Mentawei." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genova) (2) 20, no. 40 (1900): 661-722.
 * Forel A. 1901. Einige neue Ameisen aus Südbrasilien, Java, Natal und Mossamedes. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft. 10: 297-311.
 * Forel A. 1901. Einige neue Ameisen aus Südbrasilien, Java, Natal und Mossamedes. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 10: 297-311.
 * Kohout R.J., and M. Mohamed. 2008. A preliminary list of the Polyrhachis ants of the Maliau Basin Conservation area in Sabah, Borneo (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Asian Myrmecology 2: 63-70.
 * Kohout, R. J. 2008. A review of the Polyrhachis ants of Sulawesi with keys and descriptions of new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 52:255-317.
 * Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
 * Philpott S.M., P. Bichier, R.A. Rice, and R. Greenberg. 2008. Biodiversity conservation, yield, and alternative products in coffee agroecosystems in Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodivers. Conserv. 17: 1805-1820. Data obtained from Stacy Philpott
 * Robson Simon Database Polyrhachis -05 Sept 2014