Papyrius nitidus
Shining Coconut Ant at Higgins, ACT
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| Papyrius nitidus | JonLewis | 15 Sep 2020 | |
| Papyrius nitidus | JonLewis | 15 Sep 2020 | |
| Unverified | AlisonMilton | 14 Sep 2020 |
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5 comments
15 Sep 2020
Hi Alison, this is an interesting observation as I think it's the first Coconut ant record from a suburban street. Cheers, Jon
16 Sep 2020
Thanks Jon. My thoughts were coconut ant as I couldn't find any other match, but it was such an odd place as you say and there were no signs of cartons. I'll keep an eye on them as it's only 10 minutes walk from home.
16 Sep 2020
You can always confirm the ID by squashing one and checking for the coconut smell next time you go past the tree. Cheers, Jon
16 Sep 2020
Thanks Jon. I didn't consider coconut ants until I looked at the magnified photos on my computer at home. I went back today to confirm the smell test and they are definitely coconut ants. Also on the trunk of the adjacent eucalypt. Both trees are 5 metres or so in height. No low shrubs or fallen timber in the vicinity so still didn't find any cartons.
Location information
- Places Higgins, ACT
Sighting information
- 16 - 100 Abundance
- AlisonMilton Recorded by
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
Collections
- AlisonMilton Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Papyrius nitidus Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Insects
Species information
- Papyrius nitidus Scientific name
- Shining Coconut Ant Common name
- Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 860.96m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- GPS evidence of location
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- Description