Paratrechina

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Paratrechina
Paratrechina longicornis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Lasiini
Alliance: Prenolepis genus group
Genus: Paratrechina
Motschoulsky, 1863
Type species
Paratrechina currens (junior synonym of Paratrechina longicornis)
Diversity
5 species
(Species Checklist, Species by Country)

Paratrechina longicornis casent0063128 profile 1.jpg

Paratrechina longicornis

Paratrechina longicornis casent0063128 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen Label

This genus contains the widely distributed pest species Paratrechina longicornis. LaPolla and Fisher (2014) - the center of Paratrechina diversity is in the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions, which raises some interesting questions as to the origin of the now pantropical P. longicornis (LaPolla et al. 2013). A review of the argument that P. longicornis is Asian in origin is provided by Wetterer (2008) and LaPolla et al. (2013) (i.e., on the observation that P. longicornis has only been found in undisturbed habitats in tropical Asia). However, since P. zanjensis appears to be a miombo woodland specialist and its sister taxon is almost certainly P. longicornis, it raises the possibility that P. longicornis might be an African woodland specialist as well. Given the fact that most African woodland habitat has been impacted to some extent by humans, it might be difficult to prove that P. longicornis is in fact native there. It is worth noting that the two new Malagasy species described here are native to dry forest habitats on limestone outcrops. While certainly P. kohli is a rainforest species, we cannot dismiss the possibility that it is the only species native to rainforests in the genus. There is one report of P. longicornis from native forest in Cameroon (Dejean et al. 1996). However, only one specimen of P. longicornis (out of 62,708 specimens) was collected from 15 forest sites in Tanzania (P. Hawkes, pers. comm.), so the conclusions of the previous study remain equivocal. Clearly, the question of the native range of P. longicornis remains an open one, but with the discovery of multiple Paratrechina species in the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions, a more complete survey is needed, and an Asian origin for the species now seems questionable.

Identification

Mandible with 5 teeth; maxillary palps 6-segmented; labial palps 4-segmented; erect setae on dorsum of head randomly placed; scapes lacking erect hairs; abundant erect setae on legs and dorsum of mesosoma. Eyes well developed and convex, surpassing outline of head in full frontal view, placed midlength and laterally on head. Dorsal mesosomal setae arranged loosely in pairs; propodeum lacking erect setae; propodeum with a low-domed dorsal face; overall mesosoma shape long and slender. (LaPolla et al. 2010)

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Keys including this Genus

 

Keys to Species in this Genus

Distribution

Paratrechina longicornis has been spread by humans and obtained a pantropical distribution. It is also found in temperate climates, largely through establishing itself in buildings and other artificial environments such as greenhouses. (Wetterer et al., 1999, Wetterer 2008). It is likely that this species arose in South-east Asia but this has yet to be confirmed (LaPolla et al., 2013; Wetterer, 2008).

Distribution and Richness based on AntMaps

Species by Region

Number of species within biogeographic regions, along with the total number of species for each region.

Afrotropical Region Australasian Region Indo-Australian Region Malagasy Region Nearctic Region Neotropical Region Oriental Region Palaearctic Region
Species 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 2
Total Species 2840 1735 3042 932 835 4378 1740 2862

Fossils

A fossil specimen from Zhangpu amber, Zhangpu County, Fujian Province, China (Miocene) (an unidentified species, Wang et al., 2021) is known, but its generic placement remains uncertain.

Biology

Association with Other Organisms

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Species Uncertain

  • An unknown species is a host for the eucharitid wasp Gollumiella longipetiolata (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (multiple encounter modes; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

All Associate Records for Genus

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Taxon Relationship Associate Type Associate Taxon Associate Relationship Locality Source Notes
Paratrechina host eucharitid wasp Gollumiella longipetiolata parasitoid Quevillon, 2018 multiple encounter modes; direct transmission; transmission outside nest
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Absidia corymbifera associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Acremonium sp. associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Aspergillus candidus associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Aspergillus ochraceus associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Aspergillus versicolor associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Cladosporium sp. associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Cunninghamella equinalata associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Cunninghamella polymorpha associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Geotrichum sp. associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Penicillium sp. associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis associate (details unknown) fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum associate (details unknown) Quevillon, 2018
Paratrechina longicornis host cricket Myrmecophilus americanus myrmecophile
Paratrechina longicornis host fungus Aspergillus flavus parasitoid Quevillon, 2018 encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission within nest
Paratrechina longicornis host fungus Metarhizium anisopliae parasitoid Quevillon, 2018 encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission within nest
Paratrechina longicornis mutualist aphid Aphis coreopsidis trophobiont Favret et al., 2010; Saddiqui et al., 2019
Paratrechina longicornis mutualist aphid Aphis craccivora trophobiont Shiran et al., 2013; Rakhshan and Ahmad, 2015; Saddiqui et al., 2019
Paratrechina longicornis mutualist aphid Aphis gossypii trophobiont Idechiil et al., 2007; Lokeshwari et al., 2015; Saddiqui et al., 2019
Paratrechina longicornis prey tiger beetle Cicindela duponti predator Western Ghats, India Sinu et al., 2006

Flight Period

All Flight Records for Genus

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Taxon Month Source Notes
Paratrechina longicornis Jun Jul antkeeping.info

Life History Traits

  • Mean colony size: 2000 (Greer et al., 2021)
  • Compound colony type: not parasitic (Greer et al., 2021)
  • Nest site: hypogaeic; arboreal (Greer et al., 2021)
  • Diet class: omnivore (Greer et al., 2021)
  • Foraging stratum: subterranean/leaf litter (Greer et al., 2021)
  • Foraging behaviour: cooperative (Greer et al., 2021)

Castes

Morphology

Worker Morphology

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 • Eyes: 11-100 ommatidia • Pronotal Spines: absent • Mesonotal Spines: absent • Propodeal Spines: absent • Petiolar Spines: absent • Caste: none or weak • Sting: absent • Metaplural Gland: present • Cocoon: absent

Karyotype

All Karyotype Records for Genus

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Taxon Haploid Diploid Karyotype Locality Source Notes
Paratrechina longicornis 16 Taiwan Hung et al., 1972
Paratrechina longicornis 16 Indonesia Imai et al., 1985
Paratrechina longicornis 8 16 14M+2A India Imai et al., 1984

Phylogeny

Formicinae
Myrmelachistini
Lasiini
Melophorini
Formicini
Gesomyrmecini

Gesomyrmex  (7 species, 12 fossil species)

Oecophyllini

Oecophylla  (15 species, 16 fossil species)

Plagiolepidini
Gigantiopini

Gigantiops  (1 species, 0 fossil species)

Santschiellini

Santschiella  (1 species, 0 fossil species)

Myrmoteratini

Myrmoteras  (41 species, 0 fossil species)

Camponotini

See Phylogeny of Formicinae for details.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • PARATRECHINA [Formicinae: Plagiolepidini]
    • Paratrechina Motschoulsky, 1863: 13. Type-species: Paratrechina currens (junior synonym of Formica longicornis), by subsequent designation of Wheeler, W.M. 1911f: 170.
    • Paratrechina junior synonym of Prenolepis: Dalla Torre, 1893: 177; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 940.
    • Paratrechina revived from synonymy: Emery, 1925b: 216.

Taxonomic Notes

Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) incorrectly state that the type species of this genus is P. vagabunda rather than P. currens as subsequently designated of Wheeler (1911f: 170). This leads them to incorrectly believe that Nylanderia is a junior synonym of Paratrechina. See LaPolla et al. (2010) for details.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

LaPolla and Fisher (2014) - Monomorphic, medium sized (2.1–3.2 mm in total length); ranging from almost black to brownish-yellow, with lighter mandibles, antennae (especially funicular segments towards tips) and legs (especially distal portion of tibiae and tarsi). Head with medially erect macrosetae roughly paired, extending through the medial portion of clypeus. Antennae 12 segmented; scapes long, with scape index above 140, in most species around or above 200 (SI range 143–226). Scapes with a dense layer of pubescence. Head is usually distinctly longer than wide, with cephalic index below 100 (CI range 71–94); posterolateral corners rounded, with straight posterior margin. Eyes large relative to head width (REL2 greater than 25); eyes distinctly convex, extending beyond head margin in full-face view. Mandibles in all species, except P. kohli, with 5 teeth; in P. kohli 8 teeth present, with 7th tooth on basal angle of mandible and 8th tooth on inner mandibular margin; mandalus large and anteriorly placed; palps very long; palp formula 6:4. Mesosoma elongated, most robust in P. kohli; most gracile in P. longicornis; propodeal dorsal face variable from either nearly flat (P. longicornis) or distinctly convex (P. antsingy); propodeum without macrosetae, anteriorly occasionally with a sparse layer of pubescence; pronotal setal count 6–12 (both sides of notum); mesonotal setal count 4–8 (both sides of notum). In lateral view, petiole cuneate, broadly rounded dorsally, with much longer posterior face and not surpassing the height of the propodeum. Legs distinctly long (profemur length 0.6–1.0 mm). Gaster robust, covered in abundant erect macrosetae.

Males are known only from Paratrechina longicornis (LaPolla et al. 2013), so it is impossible at this time to discuss general male characteristics for this genus.

References