Species Iridomyrmex purpureus (Smith, 1858)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Camponotus horni Kirby, W.F. 1896. Hymenoptera. pp 203–209 in Spencer, B. (ed.) Report on the work of the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia. Melbourne : Melville, Mullen & Slade Pt. 1 supplement. [205].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH (probable) *W,Q, Palm Creek, NT.
• Formica purpurea Smith, F. 1858. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part 6. Formicidae. London : British Museum 216 pp. 14 pls. [27 Mar. 1858] [40].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH *W, Melbourne, VIC.
• Formica detecta Smith, F. 1858. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part 6. Formicidae. London : British Museum 216 pp. 14 pls. [27 Mar. 1858] [36].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH *Q, Hunter River, NSW.
• Liometopum aeneum Mayr, G.L. 1862. Myrmecologische Studien. Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 12: Abhand. 649-776 pl. 19 [704 pl. 19].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) NHMW *Q, Australia (as New Holland).
• Formica smithii Lowne, B.T. 1865. Contributions to the natural history of Australian ants. The Entomologist 2: 275-280 [276].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH (probable) *W, Sidney (=Sydney), NSW.
• Iridomyrmex detectus castrae Viehmeyer, H. 1925. Formiciden der australischen Faunenregion. Entomologische Mitteilungen. Berlin-Dahlem 14: 25-39 [31].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) ZMB *W, Liverpool, NSW.
• Iridomyrmex greensladei Shattuck, S.O. 1993. Revision of the Iridomyrmex purpureus species-group (Hymenoptera : Formicidae). Invertebrate Taxonomy 7: 113-149 [122].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANIC worker (type no. 7971), Western Australia, 15km WSW of Israelite Bay, 33°41'16"S, 123°43'03"E.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Dalla Torre, C.G. de 1893. Catalogus Hymenopterorum Hucusque Descriptorum Systematicus et Synonymicus. Vol. 7. Formicidae (Heterogyna). Lipsiae : G. Engelmann 289 pp. [168]
• Heterick, B.E. & Shattuck, S.O. 2011. Revision of the ant genus Iridomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 2845: 1-174 [124]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Noctidiurnal, omnivore, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Nest in ground layer.

General References

Greenslade, P.J.M. 1975. Dispersion and history of a population of the meat ant Iridomyrmex purpureus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 23: 495-510

Shattuck, S.O. 1993. Revision of the Iridomyrmex purpureus species-group (Hymenoptera : Formicidae). Invertebrate Taxonomy 7: 113-149 [113] (revision)

History of changes