Spiny Silver Ant

Description:

Formicidae; Formicinae; Polyrhachis saevissima argentea Mayr, 1862. When Mayr described this ssp. of P. saevissima in 1862, his specimen had been collected in Luzon, Philippines according to https://www.antcat.org/catalog/445420. So, no problem with presence in the Philippines, as long as I get the identity right. The only problem is that I always find ants difficult, there are so many of them! So here goes. The ant in my pictures, shown above, seems to match the specimens displayed in antwiki.org. The silvery satin colour over the head, mesosoma and gaster looks right. The brownish legs also match well. Then the fore and aft facing spines all seem to be exact and finally (although my photos are not the best quality) it is just possible to count the segments of the antennae and they also match. So i am reasonably confident that this is P. s. argentea.

Habitat:

I spotted this splendid creature on unidentified foliage at the roadside along the edge of a forest and a short distance from an area of mangrove.

Notes:

This tiny creature, all dressed up in his metallic colouring and spiny exoskeleton looks beautiful and scary at the same time. It makes me think of a medieval knight all rigged out in his suit of armour and ready for battle. There are some good pictures and information at - https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Polyrhachis...