Meranoplus
| Meranoplus | |
|---|---|
| |
| M. mayri worker from Madagascar | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Crematogastrini |
| Genus: | Meranoplus Smith, 1853 |
| Type species | |
| Cryptocerus bicolor Guérin-Méneville, 1844
| |
| Diversity[1] | |
| 88 species | |
Meranoplus is an Old World genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae.[2] With over 80 valid species, it is predicted that over half of the Meranoplus diversity remains undescribed, most of these from Australia.[3]
Classification[]
Meranoplus is a unique and charismatic myrmicine genus of hairy, slow-moving, and armored ants. The genus was previously classified in its own tribe, the Meranoplini, with one fossil genus, , from Baltic amber (44.1 ± 1.1 mya),[3] but was moved to Crematogastrini by Ward et al. (2015).[4] The historic shuffling of Meranoplus through higher taxa — , , Tetramoriini, Meranoplini — reflects our poor understanding of the phylogenetic position of Meranoplus within the Formicidae. Brady et al. (2006) recovered a clade of Meranoplus and Cataulacus, although this relationship was not supported in Moreau et al. (2006).[3]
Distribution[]
The extant species of Meranoplus are distributed throughout the Old World, absent only from the Palearctic and Oceania regions but with the exception of M. levellei, from New Caledonia.[3]
Biology[]
Species of this genus are predominantly ground-nesting and, when disturbed, will display thanatosis enhanced by crypsis, i.e., individuals will accumulate dirt in their pilosity and play dead. With respect to diet, most species are omnivores and facultative granivores, while others, including the whole M. diversus species group, are specialist granivores. At least one species, the Malaysian rainforest-dwelling M. mucronatus is known to have a trophobiotic relationship with hemipterans. Meranoplus species are known to be active both day and night, and to recruit via pheromone trails laid from the base of the sting using secretions from their extremely large Dufour glands. The function of the spatulate sting is still unknown. The only species of Meranoplus for which mating has been reported is M. peringuiyi, in which mating swarms occurred after a rain and where males patrolled for the outnumbered females in a zig-zag manner.[3]
Species[]
- Baroni Urbani, 1971
- Forel, 1915
- Schödl, 2007
- Schödl, 2007
- Smith, 1862
- Donisthorpe, 1947
- Crawley, 1921
- Santschi, 1928
- Taylor, 2006
- Forel, 1902
- Schödl, 2007
- Meranoplus bicolor (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)
- Schödl, 1998
- Schödl, 1999
- Meranoplus boltoni Schödl, 1998
- Schödl, 1998
- Smith, 1857
- Schödl, 2007
- Bernard, 1953
- Schödl, 2007
- Schödl, 2007
- Meranoplus cryptomys Boudinot & Fisher, 2013
- Forel, 1910
- Schödl, 2007
- Forel, 1907
- Schödl, 2007
- Smith, 1867
- Schödl, 2007
- Schödl, 2007
- Smith, 1867
- Santschi, 1928
- Forel, 1915
- Clark, 1938
- Smith, 1867
- Crawley, 1922
- Forel, 1913
- Arnold, 1926
- Crawley, 1922
- Mayr, 1876
- Taylor, 2006
- Forel, 1910
- Emery, 1895
- Emery, 1889
- Emery, 1883
- Meranoplus levis Donisthorpe, 1942
- Santschi, 1928
- Meranoplus loebli Schödl, 1998
- André, 1884
- Schödl, 1998
- Forel, 1902
- Meranoplus mayri Forel, 1910
- Schödl, 2007
- Crawley, 1922
- Forel, 1902
- Forel, 1915
- Schödl, 1998
- Smith, 1857
- Schödl, 2007
- André, 1892
- Schödl, 1998
- Donisthorpe, 1949
- Schödl, 2007
- Smith, 1862
- Schödl, 2007
- Forel, 1915
- Meranoplus parviumgulatus (Donisthorpe, 1947)
- Emery, 1886
- (Smith, 1853)
- Forel, 1902
- Meranoplus radamae Forel, 1891
- Donisthorpe, 1938
- Forel, 1902
- Crawley, 1922
- Donisthorpe, 1941
- Taylor, 2006
- Viehmeyer, 1922
- Schödl, 2007
- Arnold, 1917
- Smith, 1859
- Bolton, 1981
- Boudinot & Fisher, 2013
- Schödl, 2007
- McAreavey, 1956
- Schödl, 2007
- Forel, 1902
- Schödl, 2007
- Smith, 1876
- Schödl, 2007
References[]
- ^ Bolton, B. (2014). "Meranoplus". AntCat. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "Genus: Meranoplus". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Boudinot, Brendon E.; Fisher, Brian L. (2013), "A taxonomic revision of the Meranoplus F. Smith of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) with keys to species and diagnosis of the males." (PDF), Zootaxa, 3635 (4): 301–339, doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3635.4.1, PMID 26097952
- ^ Ward, Philip S.; Brady, Sean G.; Fisher, Brian L.; Schultz, Ted R. (2015). "The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)" (PDF). Systematic Entomology. 40 (1): 61–81. doi:10.1111/syen.12090. ISSN 1365-3113. S2CID 83986771.
- Brady, S. G.; Schultz, T. R.; Fisher, B. L.; Ward, P. S. (2006). "Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the early evolution and diversification of ants". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (48): 18172–7. doi:10.1073/pnas.0605858103. PMC 1838725. PMID 17079492.
- Moreau, C. S.; Bell, C. D.; Vila, R; Archibald, S. B.; Pierce, N. E. (2006). "Phylogeny of the Ants: Diversification in the Age of Angiosperms". Science. 312 (5770): 101–4. Bibcode:2006Sci...312..101M. doi:10.1126/science.1124891. PMID 16601190. S2CID 20729380.
This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Boudinot, Brendon E.; Fisher, Brian L. (2013), "A taxonomic revision of the Meranoplus F. Smith of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) with keys to species and diagnosis of the males." (PDF), Zootaxa, 3635 (4): 301–339, doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3635.4.1, PMID 26097952 Please check the source for the exact licensing terms.
External links[]
Media related to Meranoplus at Wikimedia Commons
- Myrmicinae
- Ant genera