''Adetomyrma'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Workers of this genus are blind. 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 specime ...

'' Adetomyrma venatrix'' was described in 1994, with the genus being an atypical member of its

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 is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

, the Amblyoponini. This tribe includes the Dracula ants, members of which can feed on 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 larvae and pupae.

Taxonomy

''Adetomyrma'' was first described as a Malagasy endemic

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus by Ward in 1994. Ward (1994) assigned this genus to Amblyoponini within the subfamily

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 ...

on the basis of the worker

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

of the type species ''Adetomyrma venatrix''. Later, Bolton (2003) raised this tribe to subfamily status as

Amblyoponinae Amblyoponinae is a subfamily of ants in the poneromorph subfamilies group containing 13 extant genera and one extinct genus. The ants in this subfamily are mostly specialized subterranean predators. Adult workers pierce the integument (non letha ...

Biology

The colonies, the first of which was found in a rotting log, may contain as many as 10,000 workers, winged males and several wingless queens (the majority of ant species feature winged queens). The workers use venom to stun their prey which are brought back to the colony for the larvae to feed upon. The colour of the winged males, a darker orange than the workers, suggests they disperse by flying to other colonies before mating.

Known species

*'' Adetomyrma aureocuprea'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma bressleri'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma caputleae'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma cassis'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma caudapinniger'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma cilium'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma clarivida'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma goblin'' Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012 *'' Adetomyrma venatrix'' Ward, 1994

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q356489 Amblyoponinae Ant genera Blind animals Hymenoptera of Africa Endemic fauna of Madagascar