Leptanilla

Leptanilla is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose.[2]

Leptanilla
L. swani queen and worker
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Formicidae
Subfamily:
Leptanillinae
Tribe:
Leptanillini
Genus:
Leptanilla

Emery, 1870
Diversity[1]
44 species
Synonyms

Leptomesites Kutter, 1948

Biology

Some species form colonies consisting of several hundred workers in the soil. They feed on small arthropods, including centipedes, and are rarely seen because they live underground and rarely come to the surface. In some species the queen is wingless, and new colonies form by budding from established colonies. Others have a nomadic life-style resembling that of army ants.[2]

Description

Leptanilla workers have no eyes, and are pale, yellow, and small.[2]

Distribution

Several species are found in North Africa, S. doderoi and S. revelierei in Corsica and Sardinia, S. havilandi and S. butteli in the Malay Peninsula, S. santschii in Java.[3] S. swani is the only Australian species that has been described.[2]

Species
  • Leptanilla africana Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla alexandri Dlussky, 1969
  • Leptanilla astylina Petersen, 1968
  • Leptanilla australis Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla besucheti Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla bifurcata Kugler, 1987
  • Leptanilla boltoni Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla buddhista Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla butteli Forel, 1913 — Malay Peninsula
  • Leptanilla charonea Barandica, López, Martínez & Ortuño, 1994
  • Leptanilla clypeata Yamane & Ito, 2001
  • Leptanilla doderoi Emery, 1915 — Corsica, Sardinia
  • Leptanilla escheri (Kutter, 1948)
  • Leptanilla exigua Santschi, 1908 — North Africa
  • Leptanilla havilandi Forel, 1901 — Malay Peninsula
  • Leptanilla hunanensis Tang, Li & Chen, 1992
  • Leptanilla islamica Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla israelis Kugler, 1987
  • Leptanilla japonica Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla judaica Kugler, 1987
  • Leptanilla kebunraya Yamane & Ito, 2001
  • Leptanilla kubotai Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla kunmingensis Xu & Zhang, 2002
  • Leptanilla lamellata Bharti & Kumar, 2012
  • Leptanilla macauensis Leong, Yamane & Guénard, 2018 — Macau
  • Leptanilla minuscula Santschi, 1907 — North Africa
  • Leptanilla morimotoi Yasumatsu, 1960
  • Leptanilla nana Santschi, 1915 — North Africa
  • Leptanilla oceanica Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla ortunoi López, Martínez & Barandica, 1994
  • Leptanilla palauensis (Smith, 1953)
  • Leptanilla plutonia López, Martínez & Barandica, 1994
  • Leptanilla poggii Mei, 1995
  • Leptanilla revelierii Emery, 1870 — Corsica, Sardinia, Morocco
  • Leptanilla santschii Wheeler & Wheeler, 1930 — Java
  • Leptanilla swani Wheeler, 1932 — Western Australia
  • Leptanilla taiwanensis Ogata, Terayama & Masuko, 1995
  • Leptanilla tanakai Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla tanit Santschi, 1907
  • Leptanilla tenuis Santschi, 1907 — North Africa
  • Leptanilla thai Baroni Urbani, 1977
  • Leptanilla theryi Forel, 1903 — North Africa
  • Leptanilla vaucheri Emery, 1899 — North Africa
  • Leptanilla yunnanensis Xu, 2002
  • Leptanilla zaballosi Barandica, López, Martínez & Ortuño, 1994

References
  1. Bolton, B. (2014). "Leptanilla". AntCat. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. Genus Leptanilla Australian Ants Online
  3. Wheeler (1932): An Australian Leptanilla. Psyche 39: 53-58. PDF
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