''Aphaenogaster'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

myrmicine Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s. About 200 species have been described, including 18 fossil species. They occur worldwide except in South America south of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, and Antarctica. They are often confused with ''

Pheidole ''Pheidole'' is a genus of ants that belongs to the ant subfamily Myrmicinae. The genus is widespread and ecologically dominant. It probably includes more than 1000 species. The genus first evolved in the Americas, eventually spreading across th ...

'' or ''

Pheidologeton ''Carebara'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is one of the largest myrmicine genera with more than 200 species distributed worldwide in the tropics and the Afrotropical region. Many of them are very tiny cryptic soil and leaf l ...

''. These two have major and minor workers, while ''Aphaenogaster'' has only a single worker caste. ''Pheidole'' has three-segmented clubs on its antennae, while ''Aphaenogaster'' has four segments and a larger body size. ''Pheidologeton'' has 11-segmented antennae, while the antennae in ''Aphaenogaster'' are 12-segmented.Genus ''Aphaenogaster''
In Australia, they often build dense, conspicuous nests.Richards, P.J. (2009) ''Aphaenogaster'' ants as bioturbators: impacts on soil and slope processes. Earth-Science Reviews 96: 92-106. Nest entrances are generally funnel-shaped with diameters up to 4 cm, which resulted in the common name funnel ants. These nests can be a serious problem for

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

ers or on pastures and unsealed airstrips, because the fragile surface easily collapses under pressure. Where it occurs, ''Aphaenogaster''

bioturbation Bioturbation is defined as the reworking of soils and sediments by animals or plants. It includes burrowing, ingestion, and defecation of sediment grains. Bioturbating activities have a profound effect on the environment and are thought to be a pr ...

is an important soil and landscape process. ''Aphaenogaster'' ants probably get most of their food from tended

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

s on the roots of plants, which explains that they are rarely seen on the surface. The funnel-shaped openings could play a role in trapping arthropods, which are also eaten.

Species

Aphaenogaster dlusskyana PIN3387-172 left profile

Aphaenogaster gonacantha casent0107566 profile 1

*'' A. aktaci'' Kiran & Tezcan, 2008 *†'' A. amphioceanica'' De Andrade, 1995 *'' A. angulata'' Viehmeyer, 1922 *'' A. annandalei'' Mukerjee, 1930 *†'' A. antiqua'' Dlussky & Perkovsky, 2002 *'' A. araneoides'' Emery, 1890 *†'' A. archaica'' (Meunier, 1915) *'' A. ashmeadi'' (Emery, 1895) *'' A. atlantis'' Santschi, 1929 *†'' A. avita'' Fujiyama, 1970 *'' A. balcanica'' (Emery, 1898) *'' A. balcanicoides'' Boer, 2013 *'' A. baogong'' Terayama, 2009 *'' A. barbara'' Shattuck, 2008 *'' A. barbigula'' Wheeler, 1916 *'' A. baronii'' Cagniant, 1988 *'' A. beccarii'' Emery, 1887 *'' A. beesoni'' Donisthorpe, 1933 *'' A. boulderensis'' Smith, 1941 *'' A. burri'' (Donisthorpe, 1950) *'' A. caeciliae'' Viehmeyer, 1922 *'' A. campana'' Emery, 1878 *'' A. cardenai'' Espadaler, 1981 *'' A. carolinensis'' Wheeler, 1915 *'' A. cavernicola'' Donisthorpe, 1938 *'' A. cecconii'' Emery, 1894 *'' A. concolor'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. cristata'' (Forel, 1902) *'' A. crocea'' André, 1881 *'' A. curiosa'' Santschi, 1933 *'' A. dejeani'' Cagniant, 1982 *'' A. depilis'' Santschi, 1911 *'' A. depressa'' Bolton, 1995 *†'' A. dlusskyana'' Radchenko & Perkovsky, 2016 *'' A. dlusskyi'' Radchenko & Arakelian, 1991 *'' A. donann'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *†'' A. donisthorpei'' Carpenter, 1930 *'' A. dromedaria'' (Emery, 1900) *'' A. dulciniae'' Emery, 1924 *†'' A. dumetora'' (Lin, 1982) *'' A. edentula'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. epirotes'' (Emery, 1895) *'' A. erabu'' Nishizono & Yamane, 1990 *'' A. espadaleri'' Cagniant, 1984 *'' A. exasperata'' Wheeler, 1921 *'' A. fabulosa'' Arnol'di, 1968 *'' A. fallax'' Cagniant, 1992 *'' A. famelica'' (Smith, 1874) *'' A. faureli'' Cagniant, 1969 *'' A. feae'' Emery, 1889 *'' A. fengbo'' Terayama, 2009 *'' A. festae'' Emery, 1915 *'' A. finzii'' Müller, 1921 *'' A. flemingi'' Smith, 1928 *'' A. floridana'' Smith, 1941 *'' A. foreli'' Cagniant, 1996 *'' A. friederichsi'' Forel, 1918 *'' A. fulva'' Roger, 1863 *'' A. geei'' Wheeler, 1921 *'' A. gemella'' (Roger, 1862) *'' A. georgica'' Arnol'di, 1968 *'' A. gibbosa'' (Latreille, 1798) *'' A. gonacantha'' (Emery, 1899) *'' A. gracillima'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. graeca'' Schulz, 1994 *'' A. haarlovi'' Collingwood, 1961 *'' A. hesperia'' Santschi, 1911 *'' A. holtzi'' (Emery, 1898) *'' A. honduriana'' Mann, 1922 *'' A. huachucana'' Creighton, 1934 *'' A. hunanensis'' Wu & Wang, 1992 *'' A. iberica'' Emery, 1908 *'' A. incurviclypea'' Wang & Zheng, 1997 *'' A. inermita'' Bolton, 1995 *'' A. iranica'' Kiran & Alipanah, 2013 *'' A. irrigua'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. isekram'' Bernard, 1977 *'' A. italica'' Bondroit, 1918 *'' A. januschevi'' Arnol'di, 1976 *''

A. japonica A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * A value, ''A'' value, a mea ...

'' Forel, 1911 *'' A. karpathica'' Boer, 2013 *'' A. kervillei'' Forel, 1910 *'' A. kimberleyensis'' Shattuck, 2008 *'' A. koniari'' Cagniant & Galkowski, 2013 *'' A. kumejimana'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. kurdica'' Ruzsky, 1905 *'' A. laevior'' Emery, 1887 *'' A. lamellidens'' Mayr, 1886 *†'' A. lapidescens'' Zhang, 1989 *'' A. ledouxi'' Tohmé, 1969 *'' A. lepida'' Wheeler, 1930 *'' A. lesbica'' Forel, 1913 *'' A. leveillei'' Emery, 1881 * †'' A.? longaeva'' (Scudder, 1877) *'' A. longiceps'' (Smith, 1858) *'' A. loriai'' (Emery, 1897) *'' A. lustrans'' Smith, 1961 *'' A. luteipes'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *†'' A. maculata'' Théobald, 1937 *'' A. maculifrons'' Kiran & Tezcan, 2008 *†'' A. maculipes'' Théobald, 1937 *'' A. mariae'' Forel, 1886 *'' A. mauritanica'' Dalla Torre, 1893 *†'' A. mayri'' Carpenter, 1930 *'' A. mediterrae'' Shattuck, 2008 *'' A. megommata'' Smith, 1963 *'' A. melitensis'' Santschi, 1933 *†'' A. mersa'' Wheeler, 1915 *'' A. messoroides'' Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990 *'' A. mexicana'' (Pergande, 1896) *'' A. miamiana'' Wheeler, 1932 *'' A. miniata'' Cagniant, 1990 *'' A. minutula'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. muelleriana'' Wolf, 1915 *'' A. mutica'' Pergande, 1896 *'' A. nadigi'' Santschi, 1923 *'' A. obsidiana'' (Mayr, 1861) *'' A. occidentalis'' (Emery, 1895) *†'' A. oligocenica'' Wheeler, 1915 *'' A. opposita'' (Say, 1836) *'' A. osimensis'' Teranishi, 1940 *'' A. ovaticeps'' (Emery, 1898) *'' A. pallescens'' Walker, 1871 *'' A. pallida'' (Nylander, 1849) *†'' A. paludosa'' Zhang, 1989 *†'' A. pannonica'' Bachmayer, 1960 *'' A. patruelis'' Forel, 1886 *'' A. perplexa'' Smith, 1961 *'' A. phalangium'' Emery, 1890 *'' A. phillipsi'' Wheeler & Mann, 1916 *'' A. picea'' (Wheeler, 1908) *'' A. picena'' Baroni Urbani, 1971 *'' A. polyodonta'' Zhou, 2001 *'' A. poultoni'' Crawley, 1922 *'' A. praedo'' Emery, 1908 *'' A. praenoda'' Santschi, 1933 *†'' A. praerelicta'' De Andrade, 1995 *'' A. projectens'' Donisthorpe, 1947 *'' A. pumilopuncta'' Zhou, 2001 *'' A. punctaticeps'' MacKay, 1989 *'' A. pythia'' Forel, 1915 *'' A. quadrispina'' Emery, 1911 *'' A. radchenkoi'' Kiran & Tezcan, 2008 *'' A. reichelae'' Shattuck, 2008 *'' A. relicta'' Wheeler & Mann, 1914 *'' A. rhaphidiiceps'' (Mayr, 1877) *'' A. rifensis'' Cagniant, 1994 *'' A. rothneyi'' (Forel, 1902) *'' A. rudis'' Enzmann, 1947 *'' A. rugosoferruginea'' Forel, 1889 *'' A. rugulosa'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. rupestris'' Forel, 1909 *'' A. sagei'' (Forel, 1902) *'' A. saharensis'' Bernard, 1953 *'' A. sangiorgii'' (Emery, 1901) *'' A. sardoa'' Mayr, 1853 *'' A. schmidti'' Karavaiev, 1912 *'' A. schurri'' (Forel, 1902) *'' A. semipolita'' (Nylander, 1856) *'' A. senilis'' Mayr, 1853 *†'' A. shanwangensis'' (Hong, 1984) *'' A. sicardi'' Cagniant, 1990 *'' A. sicula'' Emery, 1908 *'' A. simonellii'' Emery, 1894 *'' A. smythiesii'' (Forel, 1902) *†'' A. sommerfeldti'' Mayr, 1868 *'' A. spinosa'' Emery, 1878 *'' A. splendida'' (Roger, 1859) *'' A. sporadis'' Santschi, 1933 *'' A. striativentris'' Forel, 1895 *'' A. strioloides'' Forel, 1890 *'' A. subcostata'' Viehmeyer, 1922 *'' A. subexaperata'' Zhou, 2001 *'' A. subterranea'' (Latreille, 1798) *'' A. subterraneoides'' Emery, 1881 *'' A. swammerdami'' Forel, 1886 *'' A. syriaca'' Emery, 1908 *'' A. takahashii'' Wheeler, 1930 *'' A. tennesseensis'' (Mayr, 1862) *'' A. testaceopilosa'' (Lucas, 1849) *'' A. texana'' Wheeler, 1915 *'' A. theryi'' Santschi, 1923 *'' A. tibetana'' Donisthorpe, 1929 *'' A. tinauti'' Cagniant, 1992 *'' A. tipuna'' Forel, 1913 *'' A. tokarainsulana'' Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 *'' A. torossiani'' Cagniant, 1988 *'' A. treatae'' Forel, 1886 *'' A. turkestanica'' Arnol'di, 1976 *'' A. uinta'' Wheeler, 1917 *'' A. ujhelyii'' Szabó, 1910 *'' A. umphreyi'' Deyrup & Davis, 1998 *'' A. wangtian'' Terayama, 2009 *'' A. wangye'' Terayama, 2009 *'' A. weigoldi'' Viehmeyer, 1922 *'' A. weulersseae'' Cagniant, 1989 *'' A. wilsoni'' Cagniant, 1988 *'' A. xuatian'' Terayama, 2009

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1314641 Ant genera Taxa named by Gustav Mayr Taxonomy articles created by Polbot