HOUSEHOLD PESTS - ANT TYPES IN BRISBANE & AUSTRALIA - PART 3

 

Tetraponera punctulata ants gang up on a moth caterpillar. Ants are major predators of other insects.(image from http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Insects/Ants)

 In Australia alone there may be more than 3000 different species of ants, but so far only around 1300 have been scientifically named.

No one can live in Australia, without having personal contact with Ants.  Australia is currently known to have representatives of 10 subfamilies, 101 genera and 1275 described species and subspecies.

The ant fauna of Australia is especially large and diverse. World-wide, there are 16 subfamilies, about 300 genera and about 15,000 described species and subspecies of ants.

 Australia has: 

• 10 subfamilies,
• 101 genera; 
• 1275 described species and subspecies.

Australia has many ants! According to the CSIIRO, Australia has:

•  2/3  of the world’s ant subfamilies,
• 1/3 -third of its genera
• 15% of ant species.

While many Australian ants are found everywhere, others are among the rarest invertebrates in Australia. Numerous species have been encountered fewer than 10 times, and several are known from only one or two specimens

Queensland specifically:

• About 23 of the 101 Australian genera are limited to coastal Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales
• More ant genera have been found in Queensland rainforests than other areas in Australia site of comparable size.

 Generic Ant Diversity in Australia (image supplied from http://anic.ento.csiro.au/ants/distribution_patterns.aspx)

The common species include:

 Coastal Brown Ant , Pheidole megacephala

References:

http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Insects/Ants

 CSIRO, 2013. Ants Down Under, viewed 14 May 2013, <http://anic.ento.csiro.au/ants>.

Learn more about Australian ants

 CSIRO’s ‘Ants Down Under’ is an excellent site providing information on the biology, identification and distribution of Australian ants.

 The Australian Ants. 2000. Their Biology and Identification. Monographs on Invertebrate Taxonomy Series Volume 3. S. Shattuck, CSIRO publishing.

 Ants of Brisbane. 2007. Burwell, C.J. Queensland Museum, Brisbane. 68 pages