Ants of Singapore #12 - Echinopla (lineata)

Echinopla

Species accounts

Echinopla lineata Mayr 1872

Kent Ridge, Singapore, 2014

Kent Ridge, Singapore, 2014

Ants of Singapore #11 - Polyrhachis (cf. tubifex)

Polyrhachis

Species accounts

Polyrhachis cf. tubifex 

Polyrhachis cf. tubifex nest with alate.
Larvae with cocoon.
Lives in bamboo culms.

Worker with alate. Worker biting on the alate wings.

Alate in the nest.

A view of the alate. 

Worker carrying larvae.

Further reading:

- http://ripley.si.edu/ent/nmnhtypedb/images/pdfs/12311.pdf

- http://ripley.si.edu/ent/nmnhtypedb/images/pdfs/14656.pdf

Ants of Singapore #10 - Amblyopone (reclinata)

Amblyopone

Species accounts

Amblyopone reclinata Mayr, 1879

Distribution: Luzon

Saw these really cool Amblyopone cf reclinata ants. They belong to the subfamily Amblyoponinae. Check out those mean jaws. 

These ants belong to a group of "Dracula ants".

Ants of the genus Amblyopone has "footprint gland" which is used in recruitment via secretion of a pheromone [1]. This allows for quick recruitment [2].

[1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1467803905000022

[2] http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01240704#page-1

Ants of Singapore #09 - Gnamptogenys (costatus)

Gnamptogenys

Species accounts

Gnamptogenys costatus (Emery 1889)


Type locality: Myanmar
Distribution: Burma, Philippines (Mindanao), Borneo, Sumatra, West Malaysia, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sulawesi, Sumatra, Java), Singapore, Thailand

Gnamptogenys costatus

Gnamptogenys costatus is a species that nests in dead logs. 

What's going on at Pasir Ris beach?

I had a short and relaxing break at a family-organised chalet in Aloha Loyang and thoroughly enjoyed the good food and company in my 2D1N stay there. As usual, I went on a very small scale exploration of the Pasir Ris breah coastline just outside the chalet area but was taken aback by the amount of trash and dead organisms on the beach.

Heavily littered coastline. I believe that most of the trash is derived from Pulau Ubin that is directly opposite..

More trash and P. Ubin in the distance

I am not very sure why there is just so many dead organisms here. Within a 50 metre stretch of sand, I have counted about 5 dead horseshoe crabs, 6 dead fishes, 2 dead crabs and likely to be many many more, since I wasn't paying attention to every detail. The Loyang Shipyard was close by and the pollution derived from it could be a possible reason.

Dead horseshoe crab

Dead filefish

Dead unidentified fish

Dead catfish?

Dead flower swimming crab

Dead swimming crab

More trash is seen during the lowest tide of about 80 cm

Durian husk. (hrmm)

Grey heron flew by. :)

Pair of Oriental Pied Hornbills in the distance..

Was mind-blowned by the trashy beach until I heard some squeaks and spotted a pod of Smooth-coated Otters swimming pretty fast along the coast. Most had fishes in their mouth and I wonder if those fishes are even healthy/fresh ones to begin with. :/

In short, this experience serves as a great reminder of the need to manage our waste properly and not throw them into the sea in an irresponsible manner... Gotta keep our beaches clean!! >_<

Ants of Kent Ridge: Part I (the ants)

An Informal List of the Ants of Kent Ridge (and adjacent green areas)

Kent Ridge has a myriad of ant species that forage about on the ground. These are ant species obtained by baiting with honey, tuna and peanut butter. The ants are also given a size "score" based on total length: tiny (<=3mm), medium (>3mm), large (>9mm). 

Subfamilies represented: Myrmicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, Formicinae

Photographs by Eunice S.

If there are any misidentifications you feel strongly about, please feel free to comment on this blog and I will review it. As much as possible, I've tried to use the available taxonomic keys to identify them. 

Anoplolepis gracilipes (Smith 1857) Yellow Crazy Ant

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: in cracks, in the ground (opportunistic)

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=gracilipes&genus=anoplolepis

Camponotus cf. auriventris Emery 1889

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: excavates and nest in soil

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=auriventris&genus=camponotus&rank=species&project=borneoants

Camponotus sp. 2 [cf. maculatus-group]

Size: Large

Nesting habit: Unsure

Camponotus sp. 3 [cf. albosparsus]

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: Nests in the ground.

[Camponotus sp. 4 is part of another inventory]

Camponotus sp. 5

Size: Large

Nesting habit: Likely arboreal.

Plagiolepis cf. exigua Forel 1894

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=exigua&genus=plagiolepis&rank=species&project=allantwebants

Size: small

Nesting habit: In the ground.

Crematogaster (Orthocrema) biroi bandarensis Mayr, 1897 [ID by Shingo Hosoishi, Crematogaster expert]

http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Crematogaster_biroi 

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: Very likely to be in the ground (known from the subgenus) 

Crematogaster (Physocrema) sewardi Forel 1901 [ID by Shingo Hosoishi, Crematogaster expert]

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=sewardi&genus=crematogaster

http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Crematogaster_sewardi 

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: Likely arboreal but not fully ascertained.

Philidris sp. 1 

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: Arboreal

Dolichoderus thoracicus (Smith 1860)

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=thoracicus&genus=dolichoderus

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: Arboreal, lives in hollow branches

Meranoplus bicolor (Guerin-Meneville 1844)

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=bicolor&genus=meranoplus

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: In the ground. Excavates its own nest.

Monomorium monomorium Bolton 1987

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=monomorium&genus=monomorium

Size: Small

Nesting habit: Uncertain. Likely in the ground.

Oecophylla smaragdina smaragdina (Fabricius 1775)

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?genus=oecophylla&name=smaragdina

Size: Large

Nesting habit: Uses leaves to make nest arboreally.

Nylandaria sp.

[corrected by James Trager, Myrmecologists Facebook forum]

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: unknown

Pheidole cf. parva Mayr 1865

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?subfamily=myrmicinae&genus=pheidole&name=parva

Size: Small - Medium

Nesting habit: in the ground

[No photographs for Pheidole sp. 2 and Pheidole sp. 3]

Pheidole sp. 4

Size: Small - Medium

Nesting habit: in the ground

Pheidole sp. 5

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: unknown, probably in the ground

Pheidologeton (or Carebara sensu Fisher 2014) diversus (Jerdon 1851)

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=diversus&genus=pheidologeton

Size: Medium - Large

Nesting habit: in the ground and on the surface (but covered with sand)

Polyrhachis cf. proxima Bingham 1903

[not really sure if illaudata or proxima, but compared images on AntWeb and seem closer to proxima]

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?rank=species&name=proxima&genus=polyrhachis

Size: Large

Nesting habit: in the ground

Polyrhachis cf. abdominalis Emery 1896 [as suggested by Gordon Yong]

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?rank=species&name=abdominalis&genus=polyrhachis

Size: Large

Nesting habit: in bamboo

Tapinoma cf. melanocephalum Forel 1895 

[corrected by Jim Wetterer, Myrmecologists Facebook forum]

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?rank=species&name=indicum&genus=tapinoma

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: in cracks of the ground (opportunistic)

Tetramorium (tortosum species-group) sp. 1

Size: Medium

Nesting habit: in the ground 

Diacamma cf. rugosum (Le Guillou, 1842)

Size: Large

Nesting habit: in the ground, excavates its own nest

Odontomachus rixosus Smith 1857

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?genus=odontomachus&name=rixosus&rank=species

Size: Large

Nesting habit: in the ground

Note: not present in Kent Ridge, for comparison purposes

Odontomachus simillimus Smith 1858

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?genus=odontomachus&name=simillimus

Size: Large

Nesting habit: in the ground, usually at the base of trees

Odontoponera denticulata (Smith 1857) 

[ID suggested by Wendy Wang, pers. comm. but haven't had the chance to examine the specimen properly; the antennal scape is quite short, dark integument seems to suggest it is denticulata but its rugae is fine, suggesting its transversa, have to check eye size, incision at petiole and propodeal denticles; also I do think both species (transversa and denticulata) exist in Singapore as I've gotten reddish forms found in forests and this darker form, found in urban areas]

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?genus=odontoponera&name=transversa

Size: Large

Nesting habit: in the ground, excavates its own tunnel in the soil