Leptanilla
Encyclopedia
Leptanilla is a genus
of ant
in the subfamily Leptanillinae
. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph
of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose.
s, including centipede
s, and are rarely seen because they live underground and rarely come to the surface. In some species the queen is wingless, and new colonies form by budding from established colonies. Others have a nomadic life-style resembling that of army ant
s.
, S. doderoi and S. revelierei in Corsica
and Sardinia
, S. havilandi and S. butteli in the Malay Peninsula, S. santschii in Java. S. swani is the only Australia
n species that has been described.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
in the subfamily Leptanillinae
Leptanillinae
Leptanillinae is a subfamily of ants. They are further divided into the tribes Anomalomyrmini and Leptanillini.In all Leptanillini the larva feed their hemolymph to the queen through specialized processes on their prothorax and third abdominal segment...
. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph
Hemolymph
Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid in the circulatory system of some arthropods and is analogous to the fluids and cells making up both blood and interstitial fluid in vertebrates such as birds and mammals...
of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose.
Biology
Some species form colonies consisting of several hundred workers in the soil. They feed on small arthropodArthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s, including centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
s, and are rarely seen because they live underground and rarely come to the surface. In some species the queen is wingless, and new colonies form by budding from established colonies. Others have a nomadic life-style resembling that of army ant
Army ant
The name army ant is applied to over 200 ant species, in different lineages, due to their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", in which huge numbers of ants forage simultaneously over a certain area, attacking prey en masse.Another shared feature is that, unlike most ant...
s.
Distribution
Several species are found in North AfricaNorth Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, S. doderoi and S. revelierei in Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
and Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, S. havilandi and S. butteli in the Malay Peninsula, S. santschii in Java. S. swani is the only Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n species that has been described.
Species
- Leptanilla africana Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla alexandri Dlussky, 1969
- Leptanilla astylina Petersen, 1968
- Leptanilla australis Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla besucheti Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla bifurcata Kugler, 1987
- Leptanilla boltoni Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla buddhista Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla butteli Forel, 1913 — Malay PeninsulaMalay PeninsulaThe Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
- Leptanilla charonea Lopez, Martinez & Barandica, 1994
- Leptanilla doderoi Emery, 1915 — Corsica, Sardinia
- Leptanilla escheri (Kutter, 1948)
- Leptanilla exigua Santschi, 1908 — North Africa
- Leptanilla havilandi Forel, 1901 — Malay Peninsula
- Leptanilla islamica Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla israelis Kugler, 1987
- Leptanilla japonicaLeptanilla japonicaLeptanilla japonica is an uncommon highly migratory, subterranean ant found in Japan. They are tiny insects, with workers measuring about 1.2 mm and queens reaching to about 1.8 mm, and live in very small colonies of only a few hundred individuals at a time Its sexual development follows a...
Baroni Urbani, 1977 - Leptanilla judaica Kugler, 1987
- Leptanilla kubotai Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla minuscula Santschi, 1907 — North Africa
- Leptanilla morimotoi Yasumatsu, 1960
- Leptanilla nana Santschi, 1915 — North Africa
- Leptanilla oceanica Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla ortunoi Lopez, Martinez & Barandica, 1994
- Leptanilla palauensis (Smith, 1953)
- Leptanilla plutonia Lopez, Martinez & Barandica, 1994
- Leptanilla revelierii Emery, 1870 — Corsica, Sardinia, MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
- Leptanilla santschii G.C. Wheeler & E.W. Wheeler, 1930 — JavaJavaJava is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
- Leptanilla swani Wheeler, 1932 — Western AustraliaWestern AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
- Leptanilla tanakai Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla tanit Santschi, 1907
- Leptanilla tenuis Santschi, 1907 — North Africa
- Leptanilla thai Baroni Urbani, 1977
- Leptanilla theryi Forel, 1903 — North Africa
- Leptanilla vaucheri Emery, 1899 — North Africa
- Leptanilla zaballosi Lopez, Martinez & Barandica, 1994