Ant Diversity of New Caledonia

The Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, located 1200 km off the central Queensland coast, is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Most of its exceptionally diverse biota occurs nowhere else. It includes a highly significant ant fauna that has radiations of both Gondwanan (e.g. Monomorium and Rhytidoponera) and Indo-Malayan (e.g. Lordomyrma, Vollenhovia) origins. This fauna is strongly associated with rainforest habitat, with diverse radiations occurring in all habitat strata – in the litter (cryptic species of Discothyrea and Vollenhovia), on the ground (epigaeic species of Lordomyrma, Rhytidoponera and Monomorium), and in trees (arboreal species of Camponotus).

The last compilation of the New Caledonian ant fauna was in 1987, reporting 101 native species. Since then, local research has nearly doubled this count. Many of the species have very narrow distributions, so it is likely that many more species remain uncollected. With the type specimens of described species being scattered in different museum collections, and the taxonomic status of many species-rich genera (e.g. Monomorium, Pheidole) remaining uncertain, it is clear that knowledge of this fauna is incomplete.

During a recent PhD study on the impacts of anthropogenic fires and invasive ants on native ant diversity in New Caledonia, 183 species (171 natives) were collected using a range of sampling techniques. Native species represented 7 subfamilies and 32 genera, with the most species-rich genera being Monomorium (33 species), Lordomyrma (19), Pheidole (16), Rhytidoponera (13) and Camponotus (12). Images of all these species are provided here, and specimens are deposited at the CSIRO-TERC collection in Darwin, Australia.

See also the New Caledonia checklist of described species.

Acropyga

 * Acropyga sp. A

Adelomyrmex

 * Adelomyrmex sp. A

Amblyopone

 * Amblyopone sp. A

Anochetus

 * Anochetus graeffei

Anoplolepis

 * Anoplolepis gracilipes

Brachymyrmex

 * Brachymyrmex cf. obscurior

Calyptomyrmex

 * Calyptomyrmex sp. A

Camponotus

 * Camponotus sp. A

Cardiocondyla

 * Cardiocondyla emeryi

Carebara

 * Carebara sp. B

Cerapachys

 * Cerapachys cohici

Crematogaster

 * Crematogaster sp. A

Cryptopone

 * Cryptopone rotundiceps

Discothyrea

 * Discothyrea sp. A

Dolichoderus

 * Dolichoderus tricolor

Eurhopalothrix

 * Eurhopalothrix sp. A

Hypoponera

 * Hypoponera sp. A

Iridomyrmex

 * Iridomyrmex neocaledonica

Leptogenys

 * Leptogenys acutangula

Leptomyrmex

 * Leptomyrmex geniculatus

Lordomyrma

 * Lordomyrma sp. A

Meranoplus

 * Meranoplus leveillei

Monomorium

 * Monomorium sp. A

Nylanderia

 * Nylanderia vaga 

Ochetellus

 * Ochetellus cf. glaber

Odontomachus

 * Odontomachus cf. simillimus

Orectognathus

 * Orectognathus sarasini

Paraparatrechina

 * Paraparatrechina sp. A

Paratrechina

 * Paratrechina longicornis

Pheidole

 * Pheidole sp. B

Polyrhachis

 * Polyrhachis guerini

Rhytidoponera

 * Rhytidoponera luteipes

Rogeria

 * Rogeria sp. A

Solenopsis

 * Solenopsis sp. A

Strumigenys

 * Strumigenys aenigma

Tapinoma

 * Tapinoma melanocephalum

Technomyrmex

 * Technomyrmex albipes

Tetramorium

 * Tetramorium sp. A

Vollenhovia

 * Vollenhovia sp. A

Wasmannia

 * Wasmannia auropunctata