Bannapone

Bannapone
B. mulanae dealate queen (holotype specimen)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Amblyoponinae
Tribe: Amblyoponini
Genus: Bannapone
Xu, 2000
Type species
Bannapone mulanae
Xu, 2000
Diversity[1]
2 species

Bannapone is a rare Asian genus of ants in the subfamily Amblyoponinae.[2] Its two species, found in China, are only known from three specimens, making it one of the rarest ant genera in the world.

Species

Distribution

The genus contains two species found in China. The type species Bannapone mulanae was described from a single dealate queen found in 1998 in the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province.[3] No other specimens of the genus were found until 2013 when two workers of a new species, Bannapone scrobiceps, were discovered 20 km from the type locality of B. mulanae.[4]

Due to the few specimens collected and the fact that the area has been relatively studied, Guénard et al. (2013) who described the second species ranked the genus as one of the most rare ant genera in the world. However, they could not rule out whether collection techniques, crypsis or subterranean habits (known to occur among ants within the subfamily) biased the frequency of the collections.[4]

Taxonomy

Although known only from a single dealate queen, the type species could be placed with certainty in the tribe Amblyoponini of the subfamily Amblyoponinae, based on morphological characters (including a single petiole broadly attached to the first gastral segment, sting present, unarmed pygidium and hypopygidium, propodeum without spines, and labrum lacking peg-like teeth).[3] Lacking molecular data, the genus' relationship within the tribe cannot be ascertained. However, Bannapone shares morphological affinities with the genera Prionopelta and Concoctio and they likely belong to the same clade.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Bolton, B. (2014). "Bannapone". AntCat. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Genus: Bannapone". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Xu, Z.-H. B. (2000). "Two new genera of ant subfamilies Dorylinae and Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Yunnan, China.". Zoological Research 21: 297–302.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Guénard, B.; Blanchard, B.; Liu, C.; Yang, D.-R.; Economo, E. (2013). "Rediscovery of the rare ant genus Bannapone (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Amblyoponinae) and description of the worker caste.". Zootaxa 3734 (3): 371–379. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3734.3.6.

External links