Aphaenogaster minutula
Aphaenogaster minutula | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
Tribe: | Attini |
Genus: | Aphaenogaster |
Species: | A. minutula |
Binomial name | |
Aphaenogaster minutula Watanabe & Yamane, 1999 |
Common Name | |
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Hime-ashinaga-ari | |
Language: | Japanese |
Nests in relatively open sites in forests and at forest edges. Nests are excavated in the soil, with a distinctive pile of wood chips around each entrance (Japanese Ant Image Database).
Identification
Total length of workers 3.5-5 mm. Body yellowish brown, with head (excepting mandibles) and mesosoma slightly darker. Antennal club pale in color. This species is distinguished from its close relatives (Aphaenogaster concolor, Aphaenogaster luteipes and Aphaenogaster kumejimana) by the smaller body size, 4-segmented maxillary palp (5-segmented in the other species), and the chromosome number 2n=28. (Japanese Ant Image Database)
Distribution
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Japan (type locality).
Distribution based on AntMaps
Distribution based on AntWeb specimens
Check data from AntWeb
Countries Occupied
Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species. |
Estimated Abundance
Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species. |
Biology
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- minutula. Aphaenogaster minutula Watanabe & Yamane, 1999: 732, figs. 2, 6, 14 (w.q.) JAPAN.
- Type-material: holotype worker, 58 paratype workers, 2 paratype queens.
- Type-locality: holotype Japan: Ryukyu Is, Amami-oshima, Sato-rindo, 31.v.1991 [colony 91087] (H. Watanabe); paratypes with same data.
- Type-depository: none stated (perhaps NIAS, OIST, SKYC, perhaps also KUIC, MNHA, UTKC).
- Status as species: Imai, et al. 2003: 160.
- Distribution: Japan.
Description
References
- Imai, H.T., Kihara, A., Kondoh, M., Kubota, M., Kuribayashi, S., Ogata, K., Onoyama, K., Taylor, R.W., Terayama, M., Yoshimura, M., Ugawa, Y. 2003. Ants of Japan. 224 pp, Gakken, Japan.
- Watanabe, H.; Yamane, S. 1999. New species and new status in the genus Aphaenogaster (Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. In: Identification Guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands. Pp. 728-736 in: Yamane, S.; Ikudome, S.; Terayama, M (page 732, described)
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Terayama M. 2000. A list of Japanese ants changed after "A guide for the identification of Japanase ants I, II, III" (2). Ari 24: 13-21.
- Terayama M., S. Kubota, and K. Eguchi. 2014. Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, 278 pp.
- Watanabe H., and S. Yamane. 1999. New species and new status in the genus Aphaenogaster (Formicidae) from Japan. Pp. 728-736 in: Yamane, S.; Ikudome, S.; Terayama, M. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp.
- Yamane S. 2016. How many species of Ants in Amami Islands? (in Japanese). Part 2, chapter 1 in How many species of Ants in Amami Islands? Pp. 92-132.
- Yamane S., S. Ikudome, and M. Terayama. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp, 138-317.