Introduction

The subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae is represented in Australia by a single genus, Tetraponera. Their elongate, slender bodies and large, oval eyes, combined with their arboreal habits, are distinctive and make these ants easily recognisable.

This subfamily contains two genera and they are found world-wide primarily in tropical and subtropical areas, although they extend south into more temperate areas in Australia. There are over 250 described species and subspecies in the subfamily, five of which are known from Australia.

History of changes

• Pseudomyrmecini Bolton, B. 1994. Identification Guide to the Ant Genera of the World. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Univ. Press 222 pp.

  Type genus:

   Pseudomyrmex Lund, 1831.

History of changes

• Tetraponera Smith, F. 1852. Descriptions of new species of hymenopterous insects captured in India, with notes on their economy, by Ezra T. Downes Esq., who presented them to the Honourable the East India Company. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2 9: 44-50 [44] [redefined in Wheeler, W.M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo Expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 39–269 pls 2–23 [10 Feb. 1922]].

  Type species:

   Ecition nigrum Jerdon, 1851 by subsequent designation, see Wheeler, W.M. 1911. A list of the type species of the genera and subgenera of Formicidae. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 21: 157-175 [17 Oct. 1911].

  Secondary source:

   Wheeler, W.M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo Expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 39-269 pls 2-23 [10 Feb. 1922].

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

South Palaearctic, Ethiopian, Malagasy and Oriental Regions; New Guinea and east Melanesia in Australian Region.

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Plains (GUP), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL) ; NT, Qld, WA: Desert Uplands (DEU), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Gulf Coastal (GUC), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), NSW North Coast (NNC), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW)

Distribution References

History of changes

• Pseudomyrmex allaborans Walker, F. 1859. Characters of some apparently undescribed Ceylon insects. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 3: 370-376 [375].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown W, Sri Lanka.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

Qld: Cape York Peninsula (CYP)

Ecological Descriptors

Noctidiurnal, omnivore.

History of changes

• Pseudomyrma laeviceps Smith, F. 1859. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects collected by Mr A.R. Wallace at the islands of Aru and Key. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 3: 132-178 [Date published 1 Feb. 1859] [145].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH *W, Aru, Indonesia.

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Also on New Guinea.

IBRA

Qld: Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Closed forest, diurnal, open forest, predator, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

Nest arboreal.

History of changes

• Pseudomyrma nitida Smith, F. 1860. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects collected by Mr A.R. Wallace in the Islands of Bachian, Kaisaa, Amboyne, Gilolo, and at Dory in New Guinea. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 4(suppl.): 93-143 pl. 1 [18 July 1860] [106].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH worker, Batjan Island, Indonesia.

Generic Combinations

• Tetraponera nitida (Smith, 1860).

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Northern Kimberley (NK), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Tetraponera nixa Ward, P.S. 2001. Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15: 589-665 [638].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANIC worker, Weipa, Queensland.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

Qld: Cape York Peninsula (CYP)

History of changes

• Tetraponera punctulata Smith, F. 1877. Descriptions of new species of the genera Pseudomyrma and Tetraponera, belonging to the family Myrmicidae. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 25: 57-72 [72].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ?* Q, Champion Bay, WA.
• Sima punctulata kimberleyensis Forel, A. 1915. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910–1913. 2. Ameisen. Arkiv för Zoologi 9(no.16): 1-119, pls 1-3 [Date published 4 Dec. 1915] [37].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) GMNH W, Kimberley distr., WA and Colosseum, QLD; ANIC W, Kimberley distr., WA and Colosseum, QLD
  Comment: other syntypes may exist.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Ward, P.S. 2001. Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15: 589-665 [641]

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

Barrow Island

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Plains (GUP), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Distribution References

History of changes

• Tetraponera rotula Ward, P.S. 2001. Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15: 589-665 [644].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANIC worker, 4km ENE Cairns, Queensland.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland

IBRA

NT, Qld: Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Tetraponera tucurua Ward, P.S. 2001. Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15: 589-665 [645].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANIC worker, 11km SSE Miriam Vale, Queensland.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

Qld: South Eastern Queensland (SEQ)

History of changes