Anochetus graeffei Mayr

Shattuck, Steven O. & Slipinska, Ewa, 2012, Revision of the Australian species of the ant genus Anochetus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 3426, pp. 1-28 : 11-13

Anochetus graeffei Mayr

( Fig. 8 )

Anochetus graeffei Mayr, 1870 .

Anochetus amati Karavaiev, 1925 (junior synonym of graeffei by Wilson, 1959).

Anochetus minutus Karavaiev, 1925 (junior synonym of graeffei by Wilson, 1959).

Anochetus punctiventris subsp. oceanicus Emery, 1897 (junior synonym of graeffei by Wilson, 1959).

Anochetus punctiventris Mayr, 1879 (junior synonym of graeffei by Wilson, 1959).

Anochetus rudis Emery, 1889 (subspecies of punctiventris by Forel, 1900b, Emery, 1911; revived status as species by Bingham, 1903; junior synonym of graeffei by Brown, 1978).

Anochetus ruginotus Stitz, 1925 (junior synonym of graeffei by Brown, 1978).

Anochetus punctiventris r. taylori Forel, 1900b (raised to species by Bingham, 1903; junior synonym of graeffei by Brown, 1978).

Types. A. graeffei : Worker syntypes (4 examined by Brown, 1978) from Upolu Island, Samoa ( NHMW). Anochetus amati : Queen holotype from Aru Island, Indonesia. Anochetus minutus : Worker and queen syntypes from Segamat, Johore, Malaysia ( NHMB) . Anochetus punctiventris subsp. oceanicus: Worker syntypes from Madang (as Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen) and Aitape (as Berlinhafen), Papua New Guinea. Anochetus punctiventris : Worker syntypes from Calcutta and the "Nuddea District", India. Anochetus rudis : Worker syntype (s) from Myanmar (as "Mandalay"). Anochetus ruginotus : Holotype worker from Luzon, Philippines ( ZMHB) . Anochetus punctiventris r. taylori: Worker syntype (s) from Coonoor, Madras State, India.

Diagnosis. Eyes very small (EL <0.16mm); front of head with sculpturing extending to the posterior margin; pronotum with coarse and heavy striate-rugose sculpture; body very hairy, with abundant erect hairs on all surfaces. This is the most heavily sculptured species of Anochetus within Australia, approached only by A. victoriae . These two taxa can be separated by the rugulose rather than striate sculpturing on the dorsum of the pronotum and the smaller eye (EL <0.16mm vs.> 0.22mm) in A. graeffei .

Worker description. Body smaller (HL <1.14mm), with abundant erect or semierect hairs. Eyes very small (EL <0.16mm). Sculpturing on front of head nearly reaching posterior margin and extending slightly laterally. Dorsum of head with abundant semierect hairs as well as a few erect hairs. Scapes not reaching posterolateral corners ('lobes') of head; with abundant, slightly elevated pubescence and a limited number of erect hairs. Pronotum with characteristic punctate, irregularly rugose sculpture. Anterior section of pronotum with transverse wrinkles and ridges. Mesonotum and dorsum of propodeum with coarse striate-rugose sculpture. Dorsum of propodeum rounded laterally, with slightly rounded angle and numerous erect hairs. Metapleuron smooth and shining anteriorly. In anterior view petiolar node with apex rounded. Erect hairs on hind tibiae short and scattered. Colour from yellowbrown to brown, head from yellow to yellow-brown, antennae, mandibles and legs yellow or yellow-brown.

Measurements. Worker (n = 5): CI 92–93; EI 14–15; EL 0.13–0.15; HL 0.95–1.13; HW 0.89–1.06; HFL 0.77–0.89; ML 1.09–1.30; MandL 0.52–0.59; MTL 0.54–0.66; PronI 59–63; PronW 0.52–0.64; SL 0.76–0.87; SI 83–89.

Material examined. Australia: New South Wales: Bonalbo (Kearney, E.G.) ( ANIC); Born Born State Forest 5 mi. S of Grafton (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Glenugie State Forest, 15mi. S Grafton (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Moobal State Forest, Burringbar Ra. [ Mooball SF] (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Mt. Nullum , Murwillumbah (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Oxley Lookout, Tamworth (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Northern Territory: 13km E by N of Mt. Cahill (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Baroalba Ck. Gorge, 19km ex N Mt. Cahill (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Baroalba Gorge (collector unknown; Taylor, R.W. & Feehan, J.E.) ( ANIC); Baroalba Spring (collector unknown; Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); East Pt nr. Darwin (Forrester, N.) ( ANIC); Litchfield Nat. Pk. (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); West Alligator Mouth (Monteith, G.B.) ( ANIC); Queensland: 1 km N of Rounded Hill ( Calder, A. & Feehan , J.) ( ANIC); 1.5km EbyN Mt. Sorrow ( Calder, A. & Weir , T.) ( ANIC); 10km N Mareeba (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); 11km ENE Mt. Tozer (Weir, T.A.) ( ANIC); 14km W by N Hope Vale Mission ( Calder, A. & Feehan , J.) ( ANIC); 150 km S of Mackay (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); 18km SW Walkerston (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); 20 km S of Sarina (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); 20km N of Cairns (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); 30km S Sarina (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); 3km ENE Mt. Tozer (Weir, T.A.) ( ANIC); 5 km NW Mount Macartney (Monteith, G.B.) ( ANIC); 6 km E Woodstock (Greenslade, P.J.M.) ( ANIC); 7km ENE Mt. Tozer (Weir, T.A.) ( ANIC); 8 km SW Innisfail (Greenslade, P.J.M.) ( ANIC); 9km ENE Mt. Tozer (Weir, T.A.) ( ANIC); Alligator Crk. N.P., nr. Giru (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Brisbane (Hacker, H.) ( ANIC); Brisbane, Gold Cr. Res. (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); ca. 2 km E Crawfords Lkt. (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Cairns (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Cape Hillsborough (Monteith, G.B.) ( ANIC); Cape Tribulation area ( Calder, A. & Weir , T.) ( ANIC); Charters Towers , goldfield area (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Claudie River, Iron Range (Monteith, G.) ( ANIC); Clump Point, nr. Tully (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Cooloola, Como Scarp (Greenslade, P.J.M.) ( ANIC); Hinchinbrook Is., Gayundah Ck. ( Davies , Thompson & Gallon ; Monteith , Thompson & Cook ) ( ANIC); Innisfail nr. Josephine Falls (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Iron Ra. (Taylor, R.W. & Feehan, J.) ( ANIC); Josephine Falls, Bellenden Ker N.P. (Ward, P.S.) ( ANIC); Junction of Kennedy Highway, road from Mt. Garnet (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Kirrama Forest (Greenslade, P.J.M.) ( ANIC); Kuranda (Brown, W.L.; Dodd, F.P.; Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Lake Placid nr. Cairns (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); McNamee Creek ( Taylor & Feehan ) ( ANIC); Miles (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Millstream National Park, nr. Ravenshoe (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Mossman Bluff Track, 5–10km W Mossman ( Monteith , Thompson & ANZSES) ( ANIC); Mt. Coot-tha (Ward, P.S.) ( ANIC); Mt. Coot-tha, Brisbane (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Mt. Coot-tha, Brisbane (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Mt. Mackay nr. Tully (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Mt. Molloy (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Mt. Sorrow summit, Cape Tribulation (Monteith, G.B.) ( ANIC); nr. Babinda, Boulders N.P. (Taylor, R.W. & Feehan, J.E.) ( ANIC); Pandanus Creek, Cathu SF (Monteith, G.B.) ( ANIC); Pingin Hill [ PinGin Hill ] (Holt, J.) ( ANIC); Seymour Ra. ( Taylor & Feehan ) ( ANIC); Toowoomba (Greaves, T.) ( ANIC); turnoff to Captain Billy Landing (Shattuck, S.O.) ( ANIC); vic. Mt. Garnet (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC); Wacol, Brisbane (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); West Claudie River, Iron Range (Monteith, G.) ( ANIC); Yeppoon (Monteith, G.B.) ( ANIC); Western Australia: SW Osborne Island, Kimberley Region (Majer, J.D.) ( ANIC). Caroline Islands: WC Carolines: Woleai Is. , Woleai Atoll (Krauss, N.L.H.) ( ANIC). Cook Islands: Aitutaki, Motukitiu Islet (Wise, K.A.J.) ( ANIC); Koromiri Islet, Rarotonga (Wise, K.A.J.) ( ANIC); Rapota Islet, Aitutaki (Wise, K.A.J.) ( ANIC); Taakoka Islet, Rarotonga (Wise, K.A.J.) ( ANIC). India: Delhi ( Imai , H.) ( ANIC). Indonesia: Banda Is. (Meyer-Rochow, B.) ( ANIC); West Java: Bandung ( Imai , Kubota & Iskandar ) ( ANIC). Malaysia: Selangor: Malaya Ulu, Gombak nr. Kuala Lumpur (Taylor, R.W.) ( ANIC). Micronesia: Nama Is., near Truk ( Potts , R.W.L.) ( ANIC). New Caledonia: 14km SW Thio, Kuenthio R. (Ward, P.S.) ( ANIC); c. 3km SE Tawainedre (Ward, P.S.) ( PSWC); Fausse Yate Riv. (Ward, P.) ( ANIC); Heinghene P.T.T. [ Hienghene ] (Ward, P.) ( ANIC); Hienghene (Ward, P.) ( ANIC); lower reaches of Fausse Yate R. , nr. bridge (Ward, P.S.) ( PSWC); Mt. Panié (Ward, P.S.) ( ANIC); Riviere des Pirogues (headwaters) (Monteith, G. & Cook, D.) ( ANIC). Papua New Guinea: Central: Brown R. (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Manus: Little Drova (Room, P.M.) ( ANIC); Morobe: Bulolo (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Bulolo (Lowery, B.B.) ( ANIC); Northern: Pati (Room, P.M.) ( ANIC). Seychelles: Aldabra Atoll, Ile Picard Settlement (Humphreys, W.F.) ( ANIC); Aldabra Atoll, Ile Polymnie , Anse Cedres (Humphreys, W.F.) ( ANIC). Singapore: Labrador Nat. Reserve (Murphy, D.H.) ( ANIC). Solomon Islands: Bellona Is. (Greenslade, P.J.M.) ( ANIC); Santa Ysabel, 1000 Ships Bay opp. Lilihinia I. (Lawrence, P.N.) ( ANIC); Guadalcanal: Kukum (Greenslade, P.) ( ANIC); Mt. Austen (Greenslade, P.) ( ANIC). South Africa: Telegraph Hill, Grahamstown , Cafe Prov . (Weatherill, L.H.) ( ANIC). Sri Lanka: North Central: Ambagaswewa ( Besuchet, C. & Lobl , I.) ( ANIC).

Comments. This is one of the most widely distributed species within the genus, occurring from southern India east through SE Asia to Australia and onwards to the Cook Islands; it is also one of the most morphologically variable ( Brown, 1978). The concept of this species adopted here follows that proposed by Brown (1978). While a detailed study of the entire species, including examination of specimens from throughout its broad range, is outside the scope of this study, a preliminary analysis does not suggest obvious subdivisions and Brown's interpretation of the variation he noted as intra- rather than interspecific is accepted. Additionally, an examination of specimens from inland north Queensland which Brown flagged as possibly belonging to a separate but closely related species could not be confirmed and material from this region is treated as belong to A. graeffei .

Within Australia this is one of the most widely distributed and commonly encountered species, occurring from the Kimberleys eastward through the Top End and then throughout eastern Queensland south into north-eastern New South Wales. It is most commonly encountered in rainforest habitats but also extends into dry sclerophyll woodlands. It has only rarely been found outside forested sites. Nests are generally under rocks or occasionally other objects on the ground but it is also known to nest directly in soil without covering, in termite nests and in rotten wood.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Anochetus graeffei (1 km N of Rounded Hill, Queensland, ANIC 32 - 016043): A. Front of head; B. Side of body; C. Top of body; D. Distribution of material examined.