Dolly Ants

Description:

Dolichoderus gordoni*, or Dolly Ant as it is commonly known, is a newly described species of ant in the genus Dolichoderus, and is only known to occur in a small, localised area of southeast Queensland. I spotted these ants on a dry and sandy track, and found they were inspecting another 'larger' ant that had somehow been killed on the track. Their interaction with the dead specimen was very gentle with light touching only. I didn't witness any aggression, and there was nothing to indicate it was a source of food for them, nor a rival they had killed. This species has large spines on its thorax; two at the front facing forward, and two facing to the rear, nearer to the abdomen. Head, thorax and abdomen are all black, but the legs are a rust colour. The dead specimen that these ants were milling around also had spines on its thorax, as well as rust coloured legs. The head, however, was much larger and squarer than the others, but despite this, the similarities lead me to think it's the same species, and most likely a soldier. (See 4th photo in the set - I've done my best to enlarged it. Sorry, but not the best shots). A good link with some clear identification details for this species: http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Dolichoderus... plus loads of information for the Dolichoderus genus as a whole: http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Dolichoderus...

Habitat:

Spotted on the Mt. Norman track in Girraween National Park, southeast Queensland. The area is heavily wooded in parts, but also has many granite outcrops and massive monoliths. Here's some park info - http://www.rymich.com/girraween/

Notes:

PDF document. *Shattuck & Marsden, 2013. Article entitled Australian species of the ant genus Dolichoderus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), pages 120-121 for this newly described species. Excellent photos plus locality map. http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/1/1b/...