Dinomyrmex gigas ( Latreille, 1802 )

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 : 46-47

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.20362/am.015006
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B68783-3178-FF8B-FD73-7FE3FB42FE37
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Dinomyrmex gigas ( Latreille, 1802 )
status

Treatment

Dinomyrmex gigas ( Latreille, 1802) View in CoL

Material examined. Alate queen, Bukit Batok St. 21, 28 May 2018, Faith leg., ZRC _ ENT00000990 View Materials ; Bukit Timah Nature Reserve , North View Path, 15 Aug 2009, T.M. Leong et al. leg., ZRC _ 6_21680; Bukit Timah forest , 16 Jul 1965, P. H.L. leg., ZRC _ HYM_0000939; dealate queen, Holland Close , 11 Dec 2019, K. Lim leg., ZRC _ ENT00014092 View Materials ; Kent Ridge , 20 Dec 1989, K.Yong leg., ZRC _ HYM_0000156; alate queen, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum ( NUS), ground floor, 21 Jan 2019, S.H. Tan leg., ZRC _ ENT00047825 View Materials ; alate queen, same locality as previous, main lobby, 12 Mar 2018, T. Mokan leg., ZRC _ ENT00000900 View Materials ; Lower Peirce Reservoir Road , Aug 1990, collector unknown, ZRC _ ENT00000218 View Materials ; Lower Peirce Reservoir , Forest B, 7 Aug 1990, collector unknown, ZRC _ ENT00000096 View Materials ; Lower Peirce Reservoir , Forest A, 8 Aug 1990, collector unknown, ZRC _ ENT00000118 View Materials ; same locality as previous, 25 Aug 1990, collector unknown, ZRC _ ENT00000185 View Materials ; same locality as previous, 18 Aug 1990, collector unknown, ZRC _ HM_0000146; MacRitchie Catchment Reservoir (Reserve), 25 Apr 1994, J.C. leg., NS 125B, ZRC _ HYM_0000070; same locality, 9 Jan 2014, Sk. Yamane leg. ( SKYC) ; Nee Soon Swamp Forest , 7 Jun 1990, H.K. Lua leg., 106, ZRC _ HYM_0000134; locality unknown, 25 Dec 1967, G.W. Classy leg., ZRC _ HYM_0000940-941, 943-944; locality unknown, 2 Jan 1968, same collector as previous, ZRC _ HYM_0000942; workers and alates, Nee Soon Swamp Forest , 2012-2014, J. Puniamoorthy et al. leg., malaise trap, ZRC _BDP (multiple).

Material not physically examined. CASENT0280278, PSW09574 ( PSWC); FMNHINS0000045763-45764, FMNH.Emu. CE.IRN_163906 ( FMNH, Chicago, USA).

Literature. Smith (1857) [as Formica gigas ]; Viehmeyer (1916), Overbeck (1924) [as Camponotus (Dinomyrmex) gigas ]; Tan & Corlett (2012) [as Camponotus gigas ].

Localities. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (= Bukit Timah Hill); Kent Ridge; Lower Peirce Reservoir; MacRitchie Catchment Reserve ; Nee Soon Swamp Forest .

Habitat/Ecology. This species is associated mostly with primary and old or mature secondary habitat in Singapore, including swamp forests. These large ants have been observed nesting in huge fallen logs or rotting wood close to bases of mature trees. Solitary workers were usually found foraging over wide areas of forest, sometimes even in grassland adjacent to forest edges.

Remarks. Alates, typically queens, have occasionally been found in urban dwellings or residential areas somewhat far away from their original nest sites (i.e., forested areas). These locations cannot be strictly considered as ‘localities’ for the species, since they do not correspond to where actual nests occur. Queens are known to fly over long distances away from the source nest during dispersal.