Myrmecia nigriscapa

Myrmecia nigriscapa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Myrmeciini
Genus:	Myrmecia
Species:	M. nigriscapa
Binomial name
Myrmecia nigriscapa Roger, 1861 Specimen Labels

Myrmecia nigriscapa appears to be rather timid for a bulldog ant. Members of one nest completely refused to confront the author. (Heterick 2009)

Photo Gallery

• 

  Worker from Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria, Australia. Photo by Jordan Dean.
• 

  Worker from Braeside Metropolitan Park, Victoria, Australia. Photo by Jordan Dean.

Identification

Heterick (2009) - A yellow apex to the gaster with the basal portion of the gaster red.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Australian Myrmecia Species
• Key to Myrmecia of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Heterick (2009) - Widespread in other Australian states but seems to have a localised distribution in the Darling Range south of Perth in Western Australia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -31.9° to -39.03333333°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Association with Other Organisms

• This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
• This species is a host for the fungus Beauveria bassiana (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission within nest).

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• nigriscapa. Myrmecia nigriscapa Roger, 1861a: 33 (w.) AUSTRALIA (no state data).
  • Type-material: 6 syntype workers.
  • Type-locality: Australia (“New Holland”): (no further data).
  • Type-depository: MNHU.
  • Clark, 1925b: 142 (q.m.).
  • Status as species: Mayr, 1862: 723 (in key); Roger, 1863b: 22; Mayr, 1863: 430; Mayr, 1876: 96; Dalla Torre, 1893: 21; Forel, 1907h: 266; Emery, 1911d: 19; Clark, 1925b: 141; Wheeler, W.M. 1933i: 30; Clark, 1951: 51 (redescription); Taylor & Brown, 1985: 13; Taylor, 1987a: 44; Ogata, 1991a: 358; Ogata & Taylor, 1991: 1637 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 272; Heterick, 2009: 120.
  • Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

• Syntype, worker(s), Australia (as New Holland), Australia, The Natural History Museum.

References

• Clark, J. 1925b. The ants of Victoria. Part II. Vic. Nat. (Melb.) 42: 135-144 (page 142, queen, male described)
• Clark, J. 1951. The Formicidae of Australia. 1. Subfamily Myrmeciinae: 230 pp. CSIRO, Melbourne. [(31.xii).1951.]
• Heterick, B. E. 2009a. A guide to the ants of South-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 76: 1-206. Part 2.
• Heterick, B.E. 2021. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part I: Systematics. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 86, 1-245 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2021.001-245).
• Heterick, B.E. 2022. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part II: Distribution and biology. Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement 86: 247-510 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2022.247-510).
• Roger, J. 1861a. Die Ponera-artigen Ameisen (Schluss). Berl. Entomol. Z. 5: 1-54 (page 33, worker described)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1933i. Colony founding among ants, with an account of some primitive Australian species. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, viii + 179 pp. (page 30, see also)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Clark J. 1925. The ants of Victoria. Part II. Victorian Naturalist (Melbourne) 42: 135-144.
• Taylor R. W., and D. R. Brown. 1985. Formicoidea. Zoological Catalogue of Australia 2: 1-149.