Dorylinae

Driver ants Dorylus helvolus, photographed by Alex Wild.

Belongs within: Formicidae.

The Dorylinae, the army and driver ants, are a group of ants that have only temporary nests, with the colony moving as a whole as it forages for food. The name is used here in a broad sense; many sources divide the dorylines between a number of smaller subfamilies. The Dorylinae include some of the largest ants, with females of Dorylus species being up to 5 cm in length.

See also: Ants on the move (Taxon of the Week: Dorylidae).

Characters (from Wheeler & Wheeler 1990): Eyes absent or vestigial; pedicel usually of two segments in worker (one in female and male); clypeus short; frontal carinae short and vertical, not covering antennal insertions; antennae usually short; epinotum usually unarmed.

<==Dorylinae [Dorylidae] WW90
    |  i. s.: Nomamyrmex WW90
    |--+--Aenictogiton [Aenictogitoninae] BS06
    |  `--Dorylus Fabr. 1793 BS06, B03 (see below for synonymy)
    |       |--*D. helvolus B03
    |       |--D. brevinodosa [=D. (Typhlopone) brevinodosa] E89
    |       |--D. fuscus Emery 1889 E89
    |       |--D. labiatus Shuck. 1840 (see below for synonymy) B03
    |       |--D. laevigatus (Smith 1857) (see below for synonymy) B03
    |       |--D. nigricans I92
    |       |--D. oraniensis (Lucas 1849) E89, E12 [=Typhlopona oraniensis E12, [=D. (Typhlopone) oraniensis E89]
    |       |--D. orientalis Westw. 1835 B03 (see below for synonymy) B03
    |       `--D. punctata [=D. (Typhlopone) punctata] E89
    `--+--‘Cerapachys’ sexspinus BS06
       `--+--+--Neivamyrmex nigrescens BS06 [=Eciton nigrescens S57]
          |  `--+--Cheliomyrmex morosus BS06
          |     `--Eciton [Ecitoninae] BS06
          |          |--E. burchelli MO02
          |          |--E. dulcius WP99
          |          |--E. hamatum H79
          |          `--E. vagans BS06
          `--Aenictus Shuckard 1840 BS06, B03 [incl. Typhlatta Smith 1858 B03; Aenictinae]
               |--*A. ambiguus Shuckard 1840 B03
               |--A. aitkeni Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. aratus Forel 1900 TB85
               |--A. arya Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. binghami Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. brevicornis (Mayr 1878) [=Typhlatta brevicornis] B03
               |--A. certus Westwood 1842 B03
               |--A. ceylonicus (Mayr 1866) TB85 (see below for synonymy)
               |--A. clavatus Forel 1901 [incl. A. clavatus var. kanarensis] B03
               |--A. clavitibia Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. cornutus N-ZLI11
               |--A. dentatus N-ZLI11
               |--A. eugenii BS06
               |--A. feae Emery 1889 E89
               |--A. fergusoni Forel 1901 (see below for synonymy) B03
               |--A. glabratus N-ZLI11
               |--A. gleadowi Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. grandis Bingham 1903 B03
               |--A. greeni Bingham 1903 B03
               |--A. hilli Clark 1928 TB85
               |--A. laeviceps (Smith 1858) [=Typhlatta laeviceps] B03
               |--A. latiscapus Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. longi Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. martini Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. pachycerus (Smith 1858) (see below for synonymy) B03
               |--A. peguensis Emery 1894 B03
               |--A. philiporum Wilson 1964 TB85
               |--A. pubescens Smith 1859 B03
               |--A. punensis Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. shuckardi Forel 1901 B03
               |--A. turneri Forel 1900 H13, TB85
               |--A. westwoodi Forel 1901 B03
               `--A. wroughtoni Forel 1890 B03

Aenictus ceylonicus (Mayr 1866) TB85 [=Typhlatta ceylonica TB85; incl. A. deuqueti Crawley 1923 TB85, A. exiguus Clark 1934 TB85, A. ceylonicus var. latro B03]

Aenictus fergusoni Forel 1901 [incl. A. fergusoni var. hodgsoni, A. fergusoni var. montanus, A. fergusoni var. piltzi] B03

Aenictus pachycerus (Smith 1858) [=Eciton pachycerus; incl. Typhlatta bengalensis Mayr 1878, Aenictus bengalensis] B03

Dorylus Fabr. 1793 BS06, B03 [incl. Alaopone Emery 1881 B03, Dichthadia Gerst. 1863 B03, Typhlopone Westwood 1840 B03]

Dorylus labiatus Shuck. 1840 [=D. fulvus var. labiatus; incl. D. hindostanus Smith 1859, D. (Typhlopone) laeviceps] B03

Dorylus laevigatus (Smith 1857) [=Typhlopone laevigata; incl. Do. (Typhlopone) breviceps Emery 1889, Dichthadia glaberrima Gerst. 1863, Do. klugi Emery 1887] B03

Dorylus orientalis Westw. 1835 B03 [incl. Labidus (Typhlopone) curtisi Shuck. 1840 B03, D. fuscus Emery 1889 B03, E89, D. longicornis Shuck. 1840 B03, Alaopone oberthuri Emery 1881 B03]

*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.

[E89] Emery, C. 1889. 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 2a 7: 485–520.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[H13] Heterick, B. E. 2013. A taxonomic overview and key to the ants of Barrow Island, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 83: 375–404.

[H79] Howse, P. E. 1979. The uniqueness of insect societies: aspects of defense and integration. In: Larwood, G., & B. R. Rosen (eds) Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms pp. 345–374. Academic Press: London.

[I92] Imes, R. 1992. The Practical Entomologist. Aurum Press: London.

[MO02] Machado, G., & P. S. Oliveira. 2002. Maternal care in the Neotropical harvestman Bourguyia albiornata (Arachnida: Opiliones): oviposition site selection and egg protection. Behaviour 139: 1509–1524.

[N-ZLI11] Nur-Zati A. M., G. T. Lim & A. B. Idris. 2011. Checklist of ants of selected hill dipterocarp forests of peninsular Malaysia. Serangga 16 (1): 91–105.

[WP99] Walter, D. E., & H. C. Proctor. 1999. Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour. CABI Publishing: Wallingford (UK).

[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.