| Polyrhachis gracilior | |
|---|---|
| |
| A worker (from the Western Ghats) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Genus: | Polyrhachis |
| Subgenus: | Myrmhopla |
| Species: | P. gracilior
|
| Binomial name | |
| Polyrhachis gracilior Forel, 1893
| |
Polyrhachis gracilior is a species of ant found in the southwest and northeast India. It is one of the few ants that build arboreal nests[1] made of leaves stitched together using silk produced by their larvae.
Originally described as a "race" of Polyrhachis furcata, it was elevated to a full species by C T Bingham who noted differences in the shape of the spines.[2] A species described from Travancore as weberi by Horace Donisthorpe in 1943, was identified as being identical to gracilior by Barry Bolton.[3]
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With a larva -
Nest between leaves
- ^ Gaume, Laurence; Megha Shenoy; Merry Zacharias & Renee M. Borges (2006). "Co-existence of ants and an arboreal earthworm in a myrmecophyte of the Indian Western Ghats: anti-predation effect of the earthworm mucus" (PDF). Journal of Tropical Ecology. 22 (3): 341–344. doi:10.1017/S0266467405003111. S2CID 86520579.
- ^ Bingham, CT (1903). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera. Volume 2. Taylor and Francis, London. p. 388.
- ^ Bolton B (1974). "New synonymy and a new name in the ant genus Polyrhachis F. Smith (Hym., Formicidae)". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 109: 172–180.