''Protanilla'' 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 subterranean

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 ...

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 ...

. Known from the

Indomalayan realm The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...

, the genus contains about thirteen species. The genus was erected by Taylor (1990) for the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

''P. rafflesi'', described from workers from

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

. Species in this genus have long and downcurved mandibles with peg-like tooth on the inner margins. Four species are known from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(''P. bicolor'', ''P. concolor'', ''P. gengma'' and ''P. tibeta''), one from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

(''P. lini''), one from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(''P. schoedli'') and a couple from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(''P. wardi'', ''P. flamma'').

Species

*'' Protanilla beijingensis'' Man ''et al.'', 2017 *'' Protanilla bicolor'' Xu, 2002 *'' Protanilla concolor'' Xu, 2002 *'' Protanilla flamma'' Baidya & Bagchi, 2020 *'' Protanilla furcomandibula'' Xu & Zhang, 2002 *'' Protanilla gengma'' Xu, 2012 *'' Protanilla izanagi'' Terayama, 2013 *'' Protanilla jongi'' Hsu ''et al.'', 2017 *'' Protanilla lini'' Terayama, 2009 *'' Protanilla rafflesi'' Taylor, 1990 *'' Protanilla schoedli'' Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2006 *'' Protanilla tibeta'' Xu, 2012 *'' Protanilla wardi'' Bharti & Akbar, 2015

References

External links

* Leptanillinae Ant genera Hymenoptera of Asia {{ant-stub