Aenictus
| Aenictus | ||||||||||||
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Anatomy of Aenictus abeillei (Queen) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
| Aenictinae | ||||||||||||
| Emery , 1901 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Aenictus | ||||||||||||
| Shuckard , 1840 |
Aenictus is the only genus of the wandering ants subfamily Aenictinae from the Old World . It consists of around 134 species.
description
In Aenictus the complex insect eye is missing. The antennas are segmented into ten sections. The individuals are mostly smaller than four millimeters.
Occurrence
Aenictus wandering ants are found in tropical and subtropical Africa , Asia and the Australian state of Queensland . Aenictus occurs in many regions together with representatives of the subfamily Dorylinae . The distribution area extends at Aenictus to China and the Philippines . Some species are also found in Greece and Armenia .
Way of life
So far, very little is known about the biology and way of life of Aenictus wandering ants. This is due to the fact that not all species like those of the Dorylinae undertake large-scale and widely visible forays. Aenictinae ants often attack wasps, other ants, and termites. Unlike other species of wandering ants, they undertake their forays day and night.
Systematics
More recently, new species of the subfamily Aenictinae have been discovered. The Aenictinae consist of a genus with 134 species and about 30 subspecies, including the following:
- Aenictus batesi
- Aenictus buttelreepeni
- Aenictus ceylonicus
- Aenictus clavatus
- Aenictus ceylonicus
- Aenictus eugenii
- Aenictus fergusoni
- Aenictus gibbosus
- Aenictus gracilis
- Aenictus hamifer
- Aenictus latiscapus
- Aenictus longi
- Aenictus martini
- Aenictus mutatus
- Aenictus steindachneri
- Aenictus sumatrensis
- Aenictus togoensis
literature
- Bert Hölldobler , Edward O. Wilson : Ants. 2001, ISBN 3-492-23414-3 .
Web links
- AG Radchenko, H. Alipanah: The First Record of the Subfamily Aenictinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Iran.
Notes and individual references
- ^ A b c S. Shattuck: Australian Ants: Their Biology & Identification. (= Monographs on Invertebrate Taxonomy Series. 3). CSIRO Publishing, 2000, pp. 52-53.
- ↑ anttypes.org: Aenictidae ( Memento from November 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )