''Leptanilla'' 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 ...

in the subfamily Leptanillinae. 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 segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

s, including centipedes, 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 ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limi ...

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 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 Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...

'' 39: 53-58
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/ref> ''S. swani'' is the only Australian species that has been described.

Species

*'' Leptanilla africana'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla alexandri'' Dlussky, 1969 *'' Leptanilla astylina'' Petersen, 1968 *'' Leptanilla australis'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla besucheti'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla bifurcata'' Kugler, 1987 *'' Leptanilla boltoni'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla buddhista'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla butteli'' Forel, 1913 — Malay Peninsula *'' Leptanilla charonea'' Barandica, López, Martínez & Ortuño, 1994 *'' Leptanilla clypeata'' Yamane & Ito, 2001 *'' Leptanilla doderoi'' Emery, 1915 — Corsica, Sardinia *'' Leptanilla escheri'' (Kutter, 1948) *'' Leptanilla exigua'' Santschi, 1908 — North Africa *'' Leptanilla havilandi'' 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'' 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 t ...

*'' 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 mos ...

*'' 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'' 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