Friday, March 10, 2006

Polyrhachis hookeri

Polyrhachis hookeri
Classification
Tribe: Camponotini
Subfamily: Formicinae
Family: Formicidae
Order: Hymenoptera
Common name: Golden Spined Metallic ant
A marvellous ant from the northern part of Sydney. Measuring just around 7 mm in length, this ant establishes nests at the base of shrubs. In this Rhytidoponera metallica rich location, this ant fooled me initially into believing it was one of them, until I got reasonably close. Nests were relatively close to one another, anywhere between 60-400 cm. I witnessed some ant battles also. Interestingly all fights were one-on-one and there was no mobbing of one intruder by several ants at all.

Distinct features
divergent propodeal spines; spines on the petiole curved around the gaster; no median spines between them; distinct metallic iridescence all over the body.

Collected
lawn and around the parking lot in Macquarie University, Marsfield, Sydney, NSW, Australia (Feb 2006).

posted by Ajay Narendra @ 7:20 PM   0 comments

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