The Ant Fauna of the Bo wen Basin, in the Semi‐arid Tropics of Central Queensland (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

A total of 96 species from 28 genera were recorded from a combination of pitfall trapping, baiting and hand collecting at five sites in the Bowen Basin region (mean annual rainfall about 600 mm) of central Queensland. The richest genera were Camponotus (15 species), Iridomyrmex (10), Melophorus (12), Monomorium (10), Pheidole (8), Meranoplus (6) and Polyrhachis (6). Twenty‐nine of the species have Eyrean affinities, 15 Torresian, and five Bassian, with the remaining 47 representing widespread taxa. Species turnover was very high across the sites sampled, with 69 (72%) recorded at only one site. Almost all the species that could be confidently named, including Myrmecia varians Mayr, Anochetus armstrongi McAreavey, Brachyponera lutea (Mayr), Iridomyrmexpurpureus (F. Smith), I. sanguineus Forel, Camponotus dromas Santschi, C. ephippium (F. Smith), C. whitei Wheeler, Opisthopsis pictus Emery, O. rufithorax Emery, Polyrhachis ammon (Fab.), P. senilis Forel, and P. trapezoidea Mayr, are widespread in northern or eastern Australia, but most of the other species (the majority) appear to have far more restricted distributions. The relative contributions of species by major genera were very similar to those found elsewhere in the Australian semi‐arid tropics, and, with the exception of Bassian genera, are also similar to those in the southern semi‐arid zone. These patterns are reflected in the biogeographic profiles and functional group composition of the various faunas. They point to a structurally rather uniform arid‐adapted fauna occurring throughout arid and semi‐arid Australia, with additional contributions by Torresian taxa in the north, and Bassian taxa in the south.