Myrmecia pavida

Myrmecia pavida is a bull ant species which lives in and is native to Australia. Described by John S. Clark in 1951, the Myrmecia pavida is distributed and has been mainly collected from the states of Western Australia and South Australia.[2]

Myrmecia pavida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Formicidae
Subfamily:
Myrmeciinae
Genus:
Myrmecia
Species:
M. pavida
Binomial name
Myrmecia pavida
Clark, 1951[1]

The average length of a worker is 19-22 millimetres. Queens are larger at over 25 millimetres in length. The head and gaster are black. The thorax, node, legs, and other features are brown. The antennae and tarsi are red, and the mandibles and clypeus is yellow.[3][4]

Biology and behaviour

Like other ants of the genus Myrmecia, Myrmecia pavida has excellent vision. They are mostly nocturnal. It can spot predators from 1–2 metres (3 ft 3 in–6 ft 7 in). They are also highly aggressive when potential intruders and humans disrupt their nests.[5]

After numerous tests about the mating system and generic structure of the bull ant Myrmecia pavida, Chappell wrote:

We find little evidence of geographic structuring or inbreeding in the population, indicating that the species outbreeds, most probably in mating swarms. We also find that queens of M. pavida show moderately high polyandry, with 84% having mated with between two and seven males, and an overall mean observed mating frequency of 3.8. This is significantly higher than previously reported for queens of Nothomyrmecia macrops, in which most females mate singly. This was similar to that of Myrmecia pyriformis, Myrmecia brevinoda, and Myrmecia pilosula, the three congenerics for which mating frequencies have recently been reported.

— Chappell, P, [6]

References
  1. "Myrmecia pavida (Clark, 1951)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  2. "Myrmecia pavida Clark, 1951". Atlas of Living Australia. Govt of Australia. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  3. Clark, John (1951). The Formicidae of Australia (Volume 1) (PDF). Melbourne: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia. pp. 76–77.
  4. R.W Taylor, K Ogata (1991). Ants of the genus Myrmecia Fabricius: a preliminary review and key to the named species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae) (PDF). Canberra: Australian National Insect Collection. p. 1666.
  5. Ants Down Under
  6. Chappell, P (March 2013). Mating system and population genetic structure of the bulldog ant Myrmecia pavida (Hymenoptera Formicidae) (PDF). Vienna.


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