Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) armata ( Le Guillou, 1842 )

Hamer, Matthew T., Lee, Jonathan Hon Chung, Tse, Cheung Yau Leo, Silva, Thiago S. R. & Guénard, Benoit, 2022, Remarkable diversity in a little red dot: a comprehensive checklist of known ant species in Singapore (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with notes on ecology and taxonomy, Asian Myrmecology (e 015006) 15, pp. 1-152 : 60-61

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.20362/am.015006
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15474141
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B68783-316E-FF99-FD73-7983FE60FC97
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) armata ( Le Guillou, 1842 )
status

Treatment

Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) armata ( Le Guillou, 1842) View in CoL

Material examined. Bukit Timah forest , 3 Nov 1973, D.H. Murphy leg., ZRC _HYM_0000850, 852; Istana Club forest , 20 May 1985, D.H. Murphy leg., ZRC _HYM_0000848-849; alate queen, University Town ( NUS), 26 Apr 2019, N. Chin & J. Tan leg., ZRC _ ENT00013540 View Materials ; Prince George’s Park Residences, 1.292389, 103.778694, Aug 2015, M.S. Foo & W. Wang leg., malaise trap, ZRC _ BDP0047321 View Materials , 47427 View Materials ; Singapore Botanical Gardens, Sep 1965, collector unknown, ZRC _HYM_0000853; Upper Peirce Reservoir, 10 Jan 2014, Sk.Yamane leg., ZRC _HYM_0000392-393 GoogleMaps .

Material not physically examined. CASENT 0281398, PSW 10255 - 3 ( PSWC); FMNHINS0002842132, FMNHINS0003249694, ESJY-U-0024 ( FMNH).

Literature. Viehmeyer (1916); Overbeck (1924); Tan & Corlett (2012); Wang et al. (2018a).

Localities. Bukit Timah; Bukit Timah Hill; Istana Club forest; Kent Ridge Park; Prince George’s Park Residences ( NUS); Singapore Botanical Gardens; University Town ( NUS); Upper Peirce Reservoir

Habitat/Ecology. This arboreal species is associated mainly with mature and/or young secondary habitats, including disturbed secondary forest fragments or even cultivated park areas in urban or semi-urban settings. Individuals including winged alates have sometimes been found in human infrastructure close to forest fringes or fragments. In rainforest, the species can be found foraging on lower vegetation.

Remarks. Polyrhachis armata appears similar in general appearance (and colouration) to P. abdominalis , but can be distinguished from the latter by its coarser and more matte body sculpture. Singapore is actually the type locality for a subspecies of P. armata - P. armata defensa [see next paragraph below]. It is possible that subspecies is simply a morphological variant of the species, the most striking variable feature being the condition of the petiolar spines (length and thickness) – which can exhibit broad intranidal variation (W. Wang pers. obs.)