Adetomyrma

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Adetomyrma
Worker of the species Adetomyrma venatrix

Worker of the species Adetomyrma venatrix

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Vespoidea
Family : Ants (Formicidae)
Subfamily : Amblyoponinae
Genre : Adetomyrma
Scientific name
Adetomyrma
Ward , 1994

Adetomyrma is a genus of ants . All known species live in Madagascar .

features

Workers

The workers are adapted to an underground (hypogean) way of life. They are small, pale colored, eyeless animals with a cylindrical body outline. Only in this genus of ants is the first abdomen segment not clearly pinched off as a petiolus , but rather sits broadly on the rest of the abdomen ( gaster ). On all abdominal segments the sclerites ( tergites and sternites ) are clearly separated from one another and not fused. The formation of the abdomen is therefore less similar to that of all other ants, but to that of the other aculeatic hymenoptera . A row of conical bristles on the front edge of the clypeus , which give it a serrated appearance, is typical of the head . The antennae sit close behind the clypeus, their bases are very close to one another. The mandibles are crescent-shaped (falciform) with parallel-sided edges, at the front end with two pointed teeth, the inner edge somewhat jagged, their formation is adapted to predatory nutrition. The animals have a sting that is striking for ants.

male

The male sex animals are dark in color (exception: Adetomyrma aureocuprea ), winged and have large, hemispherical, protruding complex eyes and additional ocelles (point eyes) of striking size. Their abdominal formation corresponds to that of the workers. The wings have a large, dark-colored wing mark ( pterostigma ). A vein near the front edge, the radial sector, is remarkably poorly developed and does not reach the edge vein. The antennas consist of 13 links. In contrast to the female animals, the mandibles only have a blunt tooth at the end.

Queens

So far, queens are only known of two species. In Adetomyrma goblin they are winged, in Adetomyrma caputleae they are wingless and resemble workers ("ergatoid" queens) in their physique. In contrast to the workers, these have small complex eyes and one (the middle) ocellus.

Way of life

Little is known about the ecology of the species. Most of the species are known from forests, with all altitudes from near the coast to the mountains being populated. There are also finds from overgrown sand dunes ( A. bressleri , A. goblin ). Nests were found mainly in rotted wood, but also in the ground. The first specimens of the type species Adetomyrma venatrix were found under a rotting tree trunk.

A colony can contain up to 10,000 animals. The ants feed on other arthropods , which paralyze them with poison and carry them to the colony. In addition, the queen (Gyne) operates LHF (Larval Hemolymph Feeding), where she feeds on the hemolymph of her own larvae by puncturing the integument at certain points; the larva is not killed by this. This strange behavior is more common in the subfamily.

Systematics

Nine species of the genus are known from Madagascar, of which only males have been found so far. The subfamily Amblyoponinae is distributed in Madagascar with six quite similar genera and numerous species. While the type species was found morphologically completely isolated in 1994, similar species have now also been found outside of Madagascar, a related genus with a very similar species, for example from Vietnam.

In a relationship analysis based on homologous DNA sequences, the classification of the genus in the Ambloyponinae was confirmed. However , the data material was not sufficient for a precise sister group analysis.

Known species

The following species of the genus Adetomyrma are currently known:

Danger

The type first found adetomyrma venatrix was soon after its description in the Red List of IUCN in the category "high risk" ( "critically endangered") was added. At that time only one colony of this one species was known. Due to the numerous new finds since then, this entry needs to be revised. Since the rainforests of Madagascar, the habitat of most of the species of the genus, are severely endangered by clearing, a threat appears to be quite likely. However, the database for a reliable classification is not sufficient.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Masashi Yoshimura & Brian L. Fisher (2012): A revision of the Malagasy endemic genus Adetomyrma. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Amblyoponinae). Zootaxa 3341: 1-31.
  2. ^ A b Masashi Yoshimura & Brian L. Fisher (2012): A Revision of Male Ants of the Malagasy Amblyoponinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with Resurrections of the Genera Stigmatomma and Xymmer. PLoS ONE 7 (3): e33325. doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0033325
  3. ↑ PS Ward: Adetomyrma, an enigmatic new ant genus from Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and its implications for ant phylogeny. In: Systematic Entomology 19, 1994, pp. 159-175.
  4. ↑ K. Masuko (1986): Larval feeding hemolymph: a nondestructive parental cannibalism in the primitive ant Amblyopone silvestrii Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 19: 249-55.
  5. ↑ Seiki Yamane, Tuan Viet Bui, Katsuyuki Eguchi (2008): Opamyrma hungvuong, a new genus and species of ant related to Apomyrma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Amblyoponinae). Zootaxa 1767: 55-63.
  6. ↑ Corrie Saux, Brian L. Fisher, Greg S. Spicer (2004): Dracula ant phylogeny as inferred by nuclear 28S rDNA sequences and implications for ant systematics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Amblyoponinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 457-468. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2004.06.017
  7. ^ Adetomyrma venatrix. Entry in the red list