Genus Calomyrmex (Formicinae)

• Calomyrmex Emery, 1895l: 772. Type species: Formica laevissima Smith, by monotypy.

• OVERVIEW.   The 14 species and subspecies of Calomyrmex are found in Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia. They forage individually on low vegetation where they tend Hemiptera, visit flowers, and collect plant secretions. They only occasionally scavenge dead arthropods, and they apparently do not attack living prey. They tend to forage only during moderate temperatures and are found in arid to mesic habitats. When distrubed, these ants secrete a fluid from the base of the mandibles that acts as an alarm signal and as a repellent (Shattuck, 1999. Australian Ants: 89-90).
• ZOOGEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS.  Indo-Australian, Australasian.
• TRIBE.  Camponotini.
• MISCELLANEOUS.   Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, 1990: 153, 163 (colony size) .