Meranoplus

Meranoplus bicolor worker tending leafhopper, copyright Kalesh Sadasivan.

Belongs within: Meranoplini.

Meranoplus is a palaeotropical genus of ants characterised by nine-segmented antenna together with the dorsum of the anterior mesosoma being flattened and projecting to form a shield, often with regular protruding edges separated by translucent 'windows'.

<==Meranoplus Smith 1854 TB85
    |--*M. bicolor (Guérin-Meneville 1844) Z01 (see below for synonymy)
    |--M. aureolus Crawley 1921 TB85
    |    |--M. a. aureolus TB85
    |    |--M. a. doddi Santschi 1928 TB85
    |    `--M. a. linae Santschi 1928 TB85
    |--M. barretti Santschi 1928 TB85
    |--M. belli Forel 1902 B03
    |--M. dichrous Forel 1907 TB85
    |--M. dimidiatus Smith 1867 TB85
    |--M. diversus Smith 1867 TB85
    |    |--M. d. diversus TB85
    |    |--M. d. duyfkeni Forel 1915 TB85
    |    |--M. d. oxleyi Forel 1915 TB85
    |    `--M. d. unicolor Forel 1902 TB85
    |--M. excavatus Clark 1938 TB85
    |--M. fenestratus Smith 1867 TB85
    |--M. ferrugineus Crawley 1922 TB85
    |--M. froggatti Forel 1913 TB85
    |--M. hilli Crawley 1922 TB85
    |--M. hirsutus Mayr 1876 TB85
    |    |--M. h. hirsutus TB85
    |    |--M. h. minor Forel 1902 TB85
    |    `--M. h. rugosa Crawley 1922 TB85
    |--M. hospes Forel 1910 TB85
    |--M. laeviventris Emery 1889 B03
    |--M. leveillei Emery 1883 E14
    |--M. malaysianus N-ZLI11
    |--M. mars Forel 1902 TB85
    |    |--M. m. mars TB85
    |    `--M. m. ajax Forel 1915 TB85
    |--M. mcarthuri H09
    |--M. minimus Crawley 1922 (see below for synonymy) TB85
    |--M. mjobergi Forel 1915 TB85
    |--M. mucronatus Smith 1857 B03
    |--M. oceanicus Smith 1862 TB85
    |--M. pubescens (Smith 1854) [=Cryptocerus pubescens] TB85
    |--M. puryi Forel 1902 TB85
    |    |--M. p. puryi TB85
    |    `--M. p. curvispina Forel 1910 TB85
    |--M. radamae BS06
    |--M. rothneyi Forel 1902 B03
    |--M. rugosus H09
    |--M. similis Viehmeyer 1922 TB85
    `--M. testudineus McAreavey 1956 TB85

*Meranoplus bicolor (Guérin-Meneville 1844) Z01 [=Cryptocerus bicolor TB85; incl. Me. dimicans Walker 1859 B03, Myrmica tarda Jerdon 1851 Z01, Me. villosus Motsch. 1859 B03]

Meranoplus minimus Crawley 1922 [=M. crawleyi Viehmeyer 1925, M. minor Crawley 1918 non M. hirsutus minor 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.

[E14] Emery, C. 1914. Les fourmis de la Nouvelle-Calédonie & des îles Loyalty. In: Sarasin, F., & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 pt 4 pp. 393–436, pl. 12. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.

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

[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).