Aphaenogaster

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Aphaenogaster
A. phillipsi worker
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Family: Formicidae Subfamily: Myrmicinae Tribe: Pheidolini Genus: Aphaenogaster Mayr, 1853
Diversity
> 190 species
Type species
Aphaenogaster sardoa Mayr, 1853
Species
See text.
Synonyms
Nystalomyrma

Aphaenogaster is a genus of myrmicine ants. Almost 200 species have been described, and 11 fossil species are known. They occur worldwide except from South America and Southern Africa.

They are often confused with Pheidole or Pheidologeton. These two have major and minor workers, while Aphaenogaster has only a single worker caste. Pheidole has a 3-segmented club on its antenna, while Aphaenogaster has four segments and a larger body size. Pheidologeton has a 11-segmented antenna, while the antenna in Aphaenogaster is 12-segmented.^[1]

They build very dense, conspicuous nests with many large entrances in a small area. These entrances can have diameters of up to 4 cm and are up to 30 cm deep, which resulted in the common name funnel ants. These nests can be a serious problem for golfers or on pastures and unsealed airstrips, because the fragile surface easily collapses under pressure.^[1]

Aphaenogaster probably gets most of its food from tended aphids on the roots of plants, which explains that they are rarely seen on the surface. The funnel-shaped openings could play a role in trapping arthropods, which are also eaten.^[1]

Although they are not aggressive, they will bite when their nest is disturbed.

Contents 1 Species 2 Footnotes 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Species

A. albisetosa Mayr, 1886 A. annandalei Mukerjee, 1930 A. araneoides Emery, 1890 A. ashmeadi Emery, 1895 A. atlantis Santschi, 1929 A. avita Fujiyama, 1970 A. balcanica (Emery, 1898) A. barbara Shattuck, 2008 A. barbigula Wheeler, 1916 A. baronii Cagniant, 1988 A. beccarii Emery, 1887 A. beesoni Donisthorpe, 1933 A. belti Forel, 1895 A. boulderensis Smith, 1941 A. burri (Donisthorpe, 1950) A. caeciliae Viehmeyer, 1922 A. campana Emery, 1878 A. cardenai Espadaler, 1981 A. cavernicola Donisthorpe, 1938 A. cecconii Emery, 1894 A. cockerelli Andre, 1893 A. cristata (Forel, 1902) A. crocea Andre, 1881 A. curiosa Santschi, 1933 A. dejeani Cagniant, 1982 A. depilis Santschi, 1911 A. depressa Bolton, 1995 A. dlusskyi Radchenko & Arakelian, 1991 A. donisthorpei Carpenter, 1930 A. dromedaria (Emery, 1900) A. dulciniae Emery, 1924 A. ensifera Forel, 1899 A. epirotes (Emery, 1915) A. espadaleri Cagniant, 1984 A. exasperata Wheeler, 1921 A. fabulosa Arnol'di, 1968 A. fallax Cagniant, 1992 A. famelica (Smith, 1874) A. faureli Cagniant, 1969 A. feae Emery, 1889 A. festae Emery, 1915 A. finzii Mueller, 1921 A. flemingi Smith, 1928 A. floridana Smith, 1941 A. friederichsi Forel, 1918 A. fulva Roger, 1863 A. geei Wheeler, 1921 A. gemella (Roger, 1862) A. georgica Arnol'di, 1968 A. gibbosa (Latreille, 1798) A. gigantea Collingwood, 1962 A. gonacantha (Emery, 1899) A. haarlovi Collingwood, 1961 A. hesperia Santschi, 1911 A. holtzi (Emery, 1898) A. honduriana Mann, 1922 A. huachucana Creighton, 1934 A. hunanensis Wu & Wang, 1992 A. iberica Emery, 1908 A. inermita Bolton, 1995 A. ionia Santschi, 1933 A. isekram Bernard, 1977 A. italica Bondroit, 1918 A. januschevi Arnol'di, 1976 A. kervillei Forel, 1910 A. kimberleyensis Shattuck, 2008 A. kurdica Ruzsky, 1905 A. laevior Emery, 1887 A. lamellidens Mayr, 1886 A. ledouxi Tohme, 1969 A. lepida Wheeler, 1930 A. lesbica Forel, 1913 A. livida (Heer, 1850) A. longaeva (Scudder, 1877) A. longiceps (Smith, 1858) A. loriai (Emery, 1897) A. lustrans Smith, 1961 A. maculata Theobald, 1937 A. maculipes Theobald, 1937 A. mariae Forel, 1886 A. mayri Carpenter, 1930

A. mediterrae Shattuck, 2008 A. megommata Smith, 1963 A. mersa Wheeler, 1915 A. messoroides Dlussky, 1990 A. mexicana (Pergande, 1896) A. miamiana Wheeler, 1932 A. miniata Cagniant, 1990 A. muelleriana Wolf, 1915 A. mutica Pergande, 1896 A. nadigi Santschi, 1923 A. nana Wheeler, 1932 A. obsidiana Mayr, 1861 A. occidentalis (Emery, 1895) A. oligocenica Wheeler, 1915 A. osimensis Teranishi, 1940 A. ovaticeps (Emery, 1898) A. pallescens Walker, 1871 A. pallida (Nylander, 1849) A. pannonica Bachmayer, 1960 A. patruelis Forel, 1886 A. perplexa Smith, 1961 A. phalangium Emery, 1890 A. phillipsi Wheeler & Mann, 1916 A. picea (Wheeler, 1908) A. picena Baroni Urbani, 1971 A. poultoni Crawley, 1922 A. praedo Emery, 1908 A. praenoda Santschi, 1933 A. projectens Donisthorpe, 1947 A. punctaticeps MacKay, 1989 A. pusilla Enzmann, 1947 A. pythia Forel, 1915 A. quadrispina Emery, 1911 A. reichelae Shattuck, 2008 A. relicta Wheeler & Mann, 1914 A. rhaphidiiceps (Mayr, 1877) A. rifensis Cagniant, 1994 A. rothneyi Forel, 1902 A. ruida Wheeler, 1928 A. rupestris Forel, 1909 A. sagei (Forel, 1902) A. saharensis Bernard, 1953 A. sangiorgii (Emery, 1901) A. sardoa Mayr, 1853 A. schmidti Karavaiev, 1912 A. schurri (Forel, 1902) A. semipolita (Nylander, 1856) A. senilis Mayr, 1853 A. sicardi Cagniant, 1990 A. sicula Emery, 1908 A. simonellii Emery, 1894 A. sinensis Wheeler, 1928 A. smythiesii (Forel, 1902) A. sommerfeldti Mayr, 1868 A. spinosa Emery, 1878 A. splendida (Roger, 1859) A. striativentris Forel, 1895 A. strioloides Forel, 1890 A. subcostata Viehmeyer, 1922 A. subterranea (Latreille, 1798) A. subterraneoides Emery, 1881 A. swammerdami Forel, 1886 A. syriaca Emery, 1908 A. takahashii Wheeler, 1930 A. tennesseensis (Mayr, 1862) A. testaceopilosa (Lucas, 1849) A. texana Wheeler, 1915 A. theryi Santschi, 1923 A. tibetana Donisthorpe, 1929 A. tinauti Cagniant, 1992 A. tipuna Forel, 1913 A. torossiani Cagniant, 1988 A. treatae Forel, 1886 A. turkestanica Arnol'di, 1976 A. uinta Wheeler, 1917 A. ujhelyii Szabo, 1910 A. vapida Wheeler, 1928 A. verecunda Wheeler, 1928 A. weigoldi Viehmeyer, 1922 A. weulersseae Cagniant, 1989 A. wilsoni Cagniant, 1988

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• ITIS: Genus Aphaenogaster
• Australian Ants Online: Genus Aphaenogaster

[edit] External links

• Dale Ward: Aphaenogaster cockerelli