Aphaenogaster

Aphaenogaster feae, from here.

Belongs within: Myrmicinae.

Aphaenogaster, the funnel ants, is a genus of gracile ants whose members build distinctive nests, comprising a deep wide entrance tunnel surrounded by a pile of loose dirt. Species of this genus often walk with the gaster notably deflexed downwards or underneath the mesosoma. Aphaenogaster pythia can be regarded as a nuisance species in eastern Australia due to damage caused by its digging to pasture and tracks (Heterick 2009).

Characters (from Heterick 2009): Medium-sized, monomorphic, yellow or orange; antenna with loose four-segmented club, twelve antennal segments; postpetiole attached to front of gaster.

<==Aphaenogaster Mayr 1853 TB85 (see below for synonymy)
    |--*A. sardoa Mayr 1853 TB85
    |--A. albisetosa BS06
    |--A. baronii ES12
    |--A. beccarii Emery 1887 [=A. (Ischnomyrmex) beccarii] Z01
    |--A. blanci E89a
    |--‘Novomessor’ cockerelli C90
    |--A. cristata (Forel 1902) [=Stenamma (Aphaenogaster) cristata] B03
    |--A. exaperata Z01
    |--A. feae Emery 1889 B03 [=A. (Ischnomyrmex) feae E89b]
    |--A. fulva WL04
    |--A. geei Z01
    |--A. hunanensis Wu & Wang 1992 Z01
    |--A. japonica Forel 1911 (see below for synonymy) Z01
    |--A. laevior E89b
    |--A. longiceps (Smith 1858) TB85 (see below for synonymy)
    |--A. longipes (Smith 1857) B03 [=Myrmica longipes B03, A. (*Ischnomyrmex) longipes E89b, B03]
    |--A. megommata WW90
    |--A. occidentalis BS06
    |--A. polyodonta Zhou 2001 Z01
    |--A. poultoni Crawley 1922 TB85 [incl. A. (Nystalomyrma) barbigula Wheeler 1916 TB85, H09, TB85]
    |--A. pumilopuncta Zhou 2001 Z01
    |--A. pythia Forel 1915 TB85
    |--A. rothneyi (Forel 1902) [=Stenamma (Aphaenogaster) rothneyi] B03
    |--A. rudis WL04
    |--A. sagei (Forel 1902) [=Stenamma (Aphaenogaster) sagei] B03
    |--A. schurri (Forel 1902) [=Stenamma (Aphaenogaster) schurri] B03
    |--A. smythiesii (Forel 1902) [=Stenamma (Aphaenogaster) smythiesii] Z01
    |--A. subexaperata Zhou 2001 Z01
    |--A. subterranea S09
    |--A. swammerdami BS06
    |--A. takahashii Z01
    `--A. texana WL04

Aphaenogaster Mayr 1853 TB85 [incl. Attomyrma Emery 1915 Z01, Brunella Forel 1917 non Smith 1909 Z01, Deromyrma Forel 1913 Z01, Ischnomyrmex Mayr 1862 B03, Novomessor Emery 1915 Z01, Nystalomyema Wheeler 1916 Z01, Planimyrma Viehmeyer 1914 Z01]

Aphaenogaster japonica Forel 1911 [=A. schmitzi japonica, A. (Attomyrma) japonica; incl. A. smithiesii sinensis Wheeler 1928] Z01

Aphaenogaster longiceps (Smith 1858) TB85 [=Myrmica longiceps TB85, A. (*Nystalomyrma) longiceps TB85, Stenamma longiceps Z94; incl. S. (Ischnomyrmex) longiceps ruginota Forel 1902 TB85]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B03] Bingham, C. T. 1903. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera vol. 2. Ants and Cuckoo-Wasps. Taylor and Francis: London.

[BS06] Brady, S. G., T. R. Schultz, B. L. Fisher & P. S. Ward. 2006. Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the early evolution and diversification of ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 103 (48): 18172–18177.

[C90] Crawford, C. S. 1990. Scorpiones, Solifugae, and associated desert taxa. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 421–475. John Wiley & Sones: New York.

[E89a] Emery, C. 1889a. Intorno ad alcune formiche della fauna palearctica. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2^a, 7: 439–443.

[E89b] Emery, C. 1889b. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea in Birmania e regioni vicine. XX.—Formiche di Birmania e del Tenasserim raccolte da Leonardo Fea (1885–87). Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2^a, 7: 485–520.

[ES12] Espadaler, X., & S. Santamaria. 2012. Ecto- and endoparasitic fungi on ants from the Holarctic region. Psyche 2012: 168478.

[H09] Heterick, B. E. 2009. A guide to the ants of south-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 76: 1–206.

[S09] Seifert, B. 2009. Cryptic species in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) revisited: we need a change in the alpha-taxonomic approach. Myrmecological News 12: 149–166.

[TB85] Taylor, R. W., & D. R. Brown. 1985. Formicoidea. In: Walton, D. W. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 2. Hymenoptera: Formicoidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea pp. 1–149. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.

[WL04] Wang, X.-H., & P. J. Lester. 2004. A preliminary study of the usefulness of morphometric tools for splitting the Monomorium antarcticum (Smith) complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), New Zealand’s most common native ants. New Zealand Entomologist 27: 103–108.

[WW90] Wheeler, G. C., & J. Wheeler. 1990. Insecta: Hymenoptera Formicidae. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 1277–1294. John Wiley & Sones: New York.

[Z01] Zhou, S. 2001. Ants of Guangxi. Guangxi Normal University Press: Guilin (China).

[Z94] Zimmerman, E. C. 1994. Australian Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) vol. 2. Brentidae, Eurhynchidae, Apionidae and a chapter on immature stages by Brenda May. CSIRO Australia.

Last updated: 14 June 2020.