''Colobopsis'' 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 ...
of
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 ...
in the subfamily
Formicinae
The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development.
Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and little ...
. This genus was first described in 1861 by Mayr and contains 95 species. The type species is ''
Colobopsis truncata''.
Description
As part of
Camponotini
Camponotini is a tribe containing 2 extinct ant genera and 8 extant ant genera, including '' Camponotus'' (carpenter ants).
Genera
* ''Calomyrmex'' Emery, 1895
* '' Camponotus'' Mayr, 1861
* †'' Chimaeromyrma'' Dlussky, 1988
* ''Colobopsis
...
, ''Colobopsis'' workers have distinctive
mandibular
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...
dentition (5-8 teeth with the 3rd tooth from the apex not being reduced),
antennae 12-segmented and antennal separations well separated from the posterior
clypeal margin.
''Colobopsis'' workers are dimorphic, being divided into major workers and minor workers. The major workers generally have
phragmotic heads that are truncate to varying extents. This may cause them to be confused for ''
Camponotus'' and vice versa, since some ''Camponotus'' also have phragmotic heads.
Pupae
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
of ''Colobopsis'' are always naked. This is unlike pupae of ''Camponotus'', which are enclosed in cocoons.
Phylogeny
For a period of time, ''Colobopsis'' was considered a subgenus of ''Camponotus''. A 2015
phylogenomic
Phylogenomics is the intersection of the fields of evolution and genomics. The term has been used in multiple ways to refer to analysis that involves genome data and evolutionary reconstructions. It is a group of techniques within the larger fields ...
study found it to be the
sister group
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and t ...
to all the remaining Camponotini.
Consequently, ''Colobopsis'' has been treated as its own genus again.
Species
Selected species:
*''
Colobopsis abdita''
*''
Colobopsis anderseni''
*''
Colobopsis ceylonica''
*''
Colobopsis explodens''
*''
Colobopsis saundersi''
*''
Colobopsis schmitzi''
*''
Colobopsis truncata''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9815577
Formicinae
Ant genera