''Leptanilla'' 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 in the subfamily

Leptanillinae Leptanillinae is a subfamily of ants. They are further divided into the tribes Anomalomyrmini and Leptanillini. In all Leptanillini, the larvae feed their hemolymph Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, analogous to the blood in vertebrat ...

. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the

hemolymph Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, analogous to the blood in vertebrates, that circulates in the interior of the arthropod (invertebrate) body, remaining in direct contact with the animal's tissues. It is composed of a fluid plasma in which ...

of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose.Genus ''Leptanilla''
Australian Ants Online

Biology

Some species form colonies consisting of several hundred workers in the soil. They feed on small

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s, including

centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

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 ants.

Description

''Leptanilla'' workers have no eyes, and are pale, yellow, and small.

Distribution

Several species are found in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, ''S. doderoi'' and ''S. revelierei'' in

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, ''S. havilandi'' and ''S. butteli'' in the Malay Peninsula, ''S. santschii'' in Java. (1932): An Australian ''Leptanilla''. '' Psyche'' 39: 53-58
PDF
/ref> ''S. swani'' is the only

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n species that has been described.

Species

*''

Leptanilla africana ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla alexandri ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Dlussky, 1969 *''

Leptanilla astylina ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Petersen, 1968 *''

Leptanilla australis ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla besucheti ''Leptanilla besucheti'' is a species of ant. It is found in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as ...

'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla bifurcata ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Kugler, 1987 *''

Leptanilla boltoni ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla buddhista ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla butteli ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Forel, 1913 —

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

*''

Leptanilla charonea ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Barandica, López, Martínez & Ortuño, 1994 *''

Leptanilla clypeata ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Yamane & Ito, 2001 *''

Leptanilla doderoi ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' Emery, 1915 — Corsica, Sardinia *''

Leptanilla escheri ''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. swani'' is the only Australian s ...

'' (Kutter, 1948) *'' Leptanilla exigua'' Santschi, 1908 — North Africa *''

Leptanilla havilandi ''Leptanilla havilandi'' is a species of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. The species can be found in Singapore and Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of St ...

'' Forel, 1901 — Malay Peninsula *'' Leptanilla hunanensis'' Tang, Li & Chen, 1992 *'' Leptanilla islamica'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla israelis'' Kugler, 1987 *'' Leptanilla japonica'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla judaica'' Kugler, 1987 *'' Leptanilla kebunraya'' Yamane & Ito, 2001 *'' Leptanilla kubotai'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla kunmingensis'' Xu & Zhang, 2002 *'' Leptanilla lamellata'' Bharti & Kumar, 2012 *'' Leptanilla macauensis'' Leong, Yamane & Guénard, 2018 — Macau *'' Leptanilla minuscula'' Santschi, 1907 — North Africa *'' Leptanilla morimotoi'' Yasumatsu, 1960 *'' Leptanilla nana'' Santschi, 1915 — North Africa *'' Leptanilla oceanica'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla ortunoi ''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. swani'' is the only Australian ...

'' López, Martínez & Barandica, 1994 *'' Leptanilla palauensis'' (Smith, 1953) *'' Leptanilla plutonia'' López, Martínez & Barandica, 1994 *'' Leptanilla poggii'' Mei, 1995 *'' Leptanilla revelierii'' Emery, 1870 — Corsica, Sardinia,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

*'' Leptanilla santschii'' Wheeler & Wheeler, 1930 —

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

*'' Leptanilla swani'' Wheeler, 1932 —

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

*'' Leptanilla taiwanensis'' Ogata, Terayama & Masuko, 1995 *'' Leptanilla tanakai'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla tanit ''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. swani'' is the only Australian ...

'' 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 yunnanensis'' Xu, 2002 *'' Leptanilla zaballosi'' Barandica, López, Martínez & Ortuño, 1994

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1375333 Leptanillinae Ant genera Taxa named by Carlo Emery