A Coconut Ant at Macarthur, ACT
Identification history
| Papyrius sp. (genus) | 25 Jan 2022 | JonLewis | ||
| Unidentified | 23 Jan 2022 | RAllen |
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User's notes
Coconut ant carrying smaller larvae. However also carrying larger white larvae showing structure. Are these developing queen larvae (larger than workers ) or different larger species???
Similar observations at 2 other colonies in vicinity.
2 comments
RAllen
wrote:
23 Jan 2022
No doubt about adult ants being shining coconut ants. Was wondering about larger larvae.
JonLewis
wrote:
25 Jan 2022
Hi RAllen, it's a good question about the identity and size of the metamorphosing larvae. I would put money on them being from the same ant colony, but they certainly look bigger than the workers. From my limited experience, when a worker ant larva metamorphoses into its adult form, the pale white morph which is nearly at the end of the metamorphosis (like those in your photos) is very close to the size of the final mature ant. I haven't ever seen any live queen ant larvae metamorphosing, but it seems pretty likely they would be similar. So, yes, it may be that your photos show metamorphosing queens being ferried from one place to another. It's a good observation. Cheers, Jon
Location information
- Places Macarthur, ACT
Sighting information
- 4 - 15 Abundance
- 22 Jan 2022 12:06 PM Recorded on
- RAllen Recorded by
Additional information
- Shining coconut ant adults Associated Insect
- Less than 5mm Animal size
Species information
- Papyrius sp. (genus) Scientific name
- A Coconut Ant Common name
- Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- 346 images trained Machine learning
- External link More information
-
Synonyms
Papyrius sp.
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
