Papyrius nitidus

Shining Coconut Ant at Red Hill, ACT

Papyrius nitidus at Red Hill, ACT - 10 Mar 2018
Papyrius nitidus at Red Hill, ACT - 10 Mar 2018
Papyrius nitidus at Red Hill, ACT - 10 Mar 2018
Papyrius nitidus at Red Hill, ACT - 10 Mar 2018
Papyrius nitidus at Red Hill, ACT - 10 Mar 2018
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Identification history

Papyrius nitidus 9 Aug 2018 MichaelMulvaney
Papyrius sp. 11 Mar 2018 MichaelMulvaney

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User's notes

This ant has its nest in a large fallen Yellow Box Branch, with chewed wood observed in the main cracks of the log. When I disturbed the chewed wood covering, ants emerged, smelling faintly of coconut, but not nearly as strong as the coconut ant and this ant did not have the same woody-soil look or tree base fringing nests as content ants. It was milking the same scale and leafhopper ants that I have observed coconut ants attending. This ant moved quicker, had more red in their body and a different nest construction to Papyrius nitridus

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Location information

Sighting information

  • 101 - 1,000 Abundance
  • 10 Mar 2018 03:35 PM Recorded on
  • MichaelMulvaney Recorded by

Species information

Record quality

  • Overall Fit for scientific/research use
  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Confirmed by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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