''Leptogenys'' 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 ...

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 in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Ponerinae Ponerinae is a subfamily of ants in the Poneromorph subfamilies group, with about 1,600 species in 47 extant genera, including ''Dinoponera gigantea'' - one of the world's largest species of ant. Mated workers have replaced the queen as the fun ...

. ''Leptogenys'' is the most diverse ponerine ant genus in the world; it is widespread throughout

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

regions and there are over 260 extant species described. Most species have

ergatoid An ergatoid (from Greek '' ergat-'', "worker" + ''-oid'', "like") is a permanently wingless reproductive adult ant or termite. The similar but somewhat ambiguous term ergatogyne refers to any intermediate form between workers and standard gynes. E ...

queens, and many have falcate, bowed mandibles and are specialists on

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

prey.

Description

The ant genus ''Leptogenys'' is one of the most diverse and abundant ponerines throughout the tropical and subtropical regions . The genus has attracted attention due to its wide variety of social organizations and

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

structures as well as its remarkably diverse range of behaviors. ''Leptogenys'' range from large-eyed

epigaeic Epigeal, epigean, epigeic and epigeous are biological terms describing an organism's activity above the soil surface. In botany, a seed is described as showing epigeal germination when the cotyledons of the germinating seed expand, throw off the ...

(living or foraging primarily above ground) species to small-eyed cryptobiotic species that inhabit the soil layers or forage through the

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

. Such variation occurs across the geographical distribution of the genus. The ''maxillosa'' species-group includes widespread species that have expanded well beyond their native ranges. The worker caste of the genus can be distinguished largely by the distinct pectinate ventral margin of the tarsal claws.

Taxonomy

The

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

history of the genus ''Leptogenys'' includes several

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s as a result of the remarkable morphological diversity in the group. Several genera and subgenera were described by earlier ant taxonomists based on variation in the shape of the mandible, the number of mandibular teeth, the form of the clypeus, the presence of teeth on the anterior clypeal margin, and the number of peg-like teeth on the ventral margin of the tarsal claws. ''Leptogenys'' now includes the following junior synonyms: ''Prionogenys'', ''Lobopelta'', ''Odontopelta'', ''Machaerogenys'', ''Dorylozelus'', and ''Microbolbos''. These genera originally were in their own

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

, Leptogenyini, but the morphological features used to separate this group were eventually considered insufficient, and Brown (1963) synonymized the tribe with

Ponerini Ponerini is a tribe of Ponerinae ants with 46 genera and 6 extinct genera. Genera *''Anochetus'' *†'' Archiponera'' *''Asphinctopone'' *''Austroponera'' *''Belonopelta'' *''Boloponera'' *''Bothroponera'' *''Brachyponera'' *''Buniapone ...

. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of the Ponerinae by Schmidt (2013) corroborates the placement of ''Leptogenys'' in the Ponerini.

References

*Brown, W.L. Jr. (1963). "Characters and synonymies among the genera of ants, part 3. Some members of the tribe Ponerini". ''Breviora'' 190: 1–10. *Roger, J. (1861). "Die Ponera-artigen Ameisen (Schluss)". Berliner ''Entomologische Zeitschrift'' 5: 1-54. *Schmidt, C. (2013). "Molecular phylogenetics of ponerine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae)". ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week. ...

'', 3647: 201–250. *

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1820179 Ponerinae Ant genera Taxa named by Julius Roger

Description

Taxonomy

See also

References

External links