''Melissotarsus'' is a rare African
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 ...
of
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 ...
s in the
subfamily Myrmicinae.
They are known from the
Afrotropics and
Malagasy regions, where their nests are located in living wood, built by tunneling through the wood under the bark. They are rarely seen outside of their nests, which may contribute to their perceived rarity.
However, they are considered pest insects because of damage they can cause to trees, including economically important ones such as
mangos and trees in the family
Burseraceae
The Burseraceae are a moderate-sized family of 17-19 genera and about 540 species of flowering plants. The actual numbers differ according to the time period in which a given source is written describing this family. The Burseraceae are also kno ...
, including ''
Aucoumea klaineana
''Aucoumea klaineana'' (angouma, gaboon, or okoumé) is a tree in the family Burseraceae, native to equatorial west Africa in Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and Río Muni. It is a large hardwood tree growing to tall, rarely larger, with ...
'', ''
Dacryodes buettneri'', and ''
Dacryodes edulis''.
''Melissotarsus'' live in association with armored scale insects, family
Diaspididae
Diaspididae is the largest family of scale insects with over 2650 described species in around 400 genera. As with all scale insects, the female produces a waxy protective scale beneath which it feeds on its host plant. Diaspidid scales are far mo ...
.
A study in Cameroon estimated that a single ''
Dacryodes edulis'' tree hosted about 1.5 million ''
Melissotarsus beccarii'' (larvae included) and half a million ''
Diaspis'' armored scale insects; the densities were about 43 and 15 thousand ''M. beccarii'' and ''Diaspis'' per square metre bark, respectively.
The ants appear to consume the secretions used to manufacture armored scales because Diaspididae are completely naked when ant-attended; the ant nest itself remains completely hidden under the bark of the tree.
Species
* ''
Melissotarsus beccarii''
Emery, 1877
* ''
Melissotarsus emeryi''
Forel, 1907
* ''
Melissotarsus insularis''
Santschi, 1911
* ''
Melissotarsus weissi''
Santschi, 1910
References
External links
*
Myrmicinae
Ant genera
Hymenoptera of Africa
Taxa named by Carlo Emery
Pest insects
{{myrmicinae-stub