Technomyrmex

White-footed ant Technomyrmex albipes, copyright Scot Nelson.

Belongs within: Dolichoderinae.

Technomyrmex is a genus of smaller, mostly arboreal ants found in warmer regions of the Old World.

Characters (from Bingham 1903): Worker with head more or less cordate, occiput emarginate, generally broader than anterior margin of head; mandibles broad, triangular, masticatory margin equal in length to outer margin, the former armed with numerous small teeth; clypeus broad, convex in the middle, extending angularly up between antennal carinae; frontal area indistinct; antennal carinae short, wide apart, parallel; scape moderately long, flagellum thickening slightly towards apex; eyes comparatively large, placed in front of transverse middle line of head. Thorax moderately broad, viewed in profile deeply emarginate at meso-metanotal suture; pro-mesonotal suture distinct but not incised; mesonotum convex, raised slightly above pronotum, the two together forming a convex gibbosity; metanotum convex, basal portion slightly sloping forward, apical portion much longer and sloping backwards; legs comparatively short and stout, calcaria pectinate, claws simple. Pedicel without a proper elevated node, simply with an oval flat thickening in the middle; abdomen at base very much produced, raised and gibbous, overhanging pedicel, posteriorly conical, with an apical cloacal aperture. Queen closely resembling worker except head proportionately broader posteriorly; ocelli present and distinct though small; thorax more massive; mesonotum and scutellum nearly flat, very slightly convex; slight constriction present behind wings; fore wing with a radial and one cubital cell; metanotum broad, sloping obliquely back to apex, only slightly convex, nearly flat; pedicel very short, together with abdomen as in worker.

<==Technomyrmex Mayr 1872 FT08 [incl. Aphantolepis Wheeler 1930 Z01, Engramma Forel 1905 Z01]
    |--*T. strenuus Mayr 1872 TB85
    |--T. albipes (Smith 1861) (see below for synonymy) Z01
    |    |--T. a. albipes TB85
    |    `--T. a. cedarensis Forel 1915 TB85
    |--T. antennus Zhou 2001 Z01
    |--T. bicolor Emery 1893 TB85
    |    |--T. b. bicolor TB85
    |    `--T. b. antonii Forel 1902 TB85
    |--T. brunneus Forel 1895 [=T. albipes brunneus] B03
    |--T. difficilis BS06
    |--T. elatior Forel 1902 [=T. mogdiliani elatior] B03
    |--T. horni N-ZLI11
    |--T. jocosus Forel 1910 TB85
    |--T. kraepelini N-ZLI11
    |--T. modiglianii N-ZLI11
    |--T. quadricolor (Wheeler 1930) [=*Aphantolepis quadricolor] TB85
    |--T. sophiae Forel 1902 TB85
    `--T. vitiensis Mann 1921 FT08

Technomyrmex albipes (Smith 1861) [=Formica (Tapinoma) albipes; incl. Tapinoma albitarse Motschulsky 1863, Ta. nigrum Mayr 1862, Technomyrmex albipes st. rufescens Santschi 1928, Te. albipes var. vitiensis Mann 1921] Z01

*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.

[FT08] Framenau, V. W., & M. L. Thomas. 2008. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean): identification and distribution. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25 (1): 45–85.

[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.

[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.

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