Leptothorax

Leptothorax acervorum, copyright April Nobile.

Belongs within: Myrmicinae.

Leptothorax is a Holarctic genus of small ants with monomorphic workers (Terayama & Onoyama 1999).

Characters (from Terayama & Onoyama 1999): Mandibles usually each with five teeth (six in some species); apical tooth largest; basal smallest. Palpal formula 5,3. Median area of clypeus broad, extending between frontal lobes. Anterior margin of clypeus varying in shape from weakly convex to strongly produced medially. Frontal carinae short. Antennae 11- or 12-segmented; apical three segments forming a club. Eyes medium to large in size, situated at mid length or slightly forwards on sides of head. Anterolateral corners of pronotum round to angulate in dorsal view. Metanotal groove varying from deeply impressed to obscure or absent. Propodeum with posterodorsal spines or teeth (rarely absent). Body hairs usually short, stout and erect, sometimes long or absent.

<==Leptothorax Mayr 1855 TO99 (see below for synonymy)
    |--*L. acervorum (Fabricius 1793) (see below for synonymy) TO99
    |--L. anira Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. antera Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. arimensis Azuma 1977 TO99
    |--L. australis Wheeler 1934 [=L. (Goniothorax) australis] TB85
    |--L. basara Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. bikara Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. carinatus WW90
    |--L. carvispinosus Mayr 1866 [=L. (*Myrafant) carvispinosus] TO99
    |--L. chamberlini [=Symmyrmica chamberlini] WW90
    |--L. clypeatus (Mayr 1853) [=Myrmica clypeata] TB85
    |--L. confucii TO99
    |--L. congruus Smith 1874 [=L. (Myrafant) congruus] TO99
    |--L. fultoni Forel 1902 B03
    |--L. haira Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. hispidus WW90
    |--L. indra Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. inermis Forel 1902 B03
    |--L. kinomurai Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. koreanus Teranishi 1940 [=L. (Nesomyrmex) koreanus] TO99
    |--L. kubira Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. kutteri S09
    |--L. makora Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. muscorum BS06
    |--L. nitens M93
    |--L. obliquicanthus WW90
    |--L. pacis S09
    |--L. rothneyi Forel 1902 B03
    |--L. santra Terayama & Onoyama 1999 TO99
    |--L. schurri Forel 1902 [=L. rothneyi schurri] B03
    |--L. spinosior Forel 1901 [=L. congruus var. spinosior, L. (Myrafant) congruus var. spinosior] TO99
    |--L. stenotyle WW90
    |--L. taylori Forel 1902 B03
    `--L. tuscaloosae WW90

Leptothorax Mayr 1855 TO99 [=Mychothorax Ruzsky 1904 TO99; incl. Antillaemyrmex Mann 1920 Z01, Caulomyrma Forel 1914 Z01, Croesomyrmex Mann 1920 Z01, Dichothorax Emery 1895 Z01, Goniothorax Emery 1896 Z01, Icothorax Hamann & Klemm 1967 Z01, Limnomyrmex Arnold 1948 Z01, Macromischa Roger 1863 Z01, Myrafant Smith 1950 TO99, Myrmammophilus Menozzi 1925 Z01]

*Leptothorax acervorum (Fabricius 1793) [=Formica acervorum, L. (*Mychothorax) acervorum; incl. L. acervorum kamtschaticum Rzusky 1920, Myrmica lacteipennis Zetterstedt 1838, Mychothorax acervorum orientalis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky 1928] TO99

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B03] Bingham, C. T. 1903. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera. Vol. II. 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.

[M93] Mockford, E. L. 1993. North American Psocoptera (Insecta). Sandhill Crane Press, Inc.

[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.

[TO99] Terayama, M., & K. Onoyama. 1999. The ant genus Leptothorax Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Japan. Memoirs of the Myrmecological Society of Japan 1: 71–97.

[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).