Aenictus levior

Aenictus levior
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dorylinae
Genus:	Aenictus
Species:	A. levior
Binomial name
Aenictus levior (Karavaiev, 1926) Specimen Labels

Heterick & Kitching (2022) collected this species in a pitfall trap within a lowland dipterocarp forest in Brunei.

Identification

A member of the pachycerus group.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Aenictus pachyerus group species

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia (type locality), Malaysia.

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.

Castes

Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

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

• levior. Eciton (Aenictus) impressus var. levior Karavaiev, 1926d: 424 (w.) INDONESIA (Buru).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “several”).
  • [Note: Radchenko, Fisher, et al. 2023: 17, cite 4w syntypes SIZK.]
  • Type-locality: Indonesia: Buru I., Tifu, 1912-13, no. 2741 (W. Karawajew).
  • Type-depository: SIZK.
  • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Karavaiev, 1927e: 6; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 11.
  • Subspecies of impressus: Chapman & Capco, 1951: 13.
  • Junior synonym of aratus: Wilson, 1964a: 446; Bolton, 1995b: 60.
  • Status as species: Shattuck, 2008c: 17; Pfeiffer, et al. 2011: 32; Jaitrong & Wiwatwitaya, 2013: 99 (in key).
  • Distribution: Brunei, Indonesia (Buru), Malaysia (Peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak).

Worker syntypes from Buru Island, Indonesia.

The following taxonomic notes are provided by Shattuck (2008):

Aenictus material from Indonesia is uncommon in collections and drawing conclusions on the species involved is difficult. However, it would appear that A. levior is a valid species and not a junior synonym of A. aratus as suggested earlier. Morphologically this species has a head shape similar to A. aitkenii (relatively broad) but the scape is shorter. However, this analysis is based on limited material and should be considered tentative until additional specimens become available. Material referable to this species has been examined from Sumatra, Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak, Malaysia.

References

• Borowiec, M.L. 2019. Convergent evolution of the army ant syndrome and congruence in big-data phylogenetics. Systematic Biology 68, 642–656 (doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy088).
• Heterick, B.E., Kitching, R.L. 2022. The ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of a one-hectare plot of lowland dipterocarp forest. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 158(4), 261–272 (doi:10.31184/m00138908.1584.4153).
• Jaitrong, W. & Wiwatwitaya, D. 2013. Two new new species of the Aenictus pachycerus species group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae) from Southeast Asia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61, 97-102.
• Karavaiev, V. 1926d. Ameisen aus dem Indo-Australischen Gebiet. Treubia 8: 413-445 (page 425, worker described)
• Radchenko, A.G., Fisher, B.L., Esteves, F.A., Martynova, E.V., Bazhenova, T.N., Lasarenko, S.N. 2023. Ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the collection of Volodymyr Opanasovych Karawajew. Communication 1. Dorylinae, Poneromorpha and Pseudomyrmecinae. Zootaxa, 5244(1), 1–32 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5244.1.1).
• Shattuck, S.O. (2008) Review of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Australia with notes on A. ceylonicus (Mayr). Zootaxa 1926, 1–19.
• Wilson, E. O. 1964a. The true army ants of the Indo-Australian area (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dorylinae). Pac. Insects 6: 427-483 (page 446, junior synonym of aratus)
• Yamane, S., Tanaka, H.O., Hasimoto, Y., Ohashi, M., Meleng, P., Itioka, T. 2021. A list of ants from Lambir Hills National Park and its vicinity, with their biological information: Part II. Subfamilies Leptanillinae, Proceratiinae, Amblyoponinae, Ponerinae, Dorylinae, Dolichoderinae, Ectatomminae and Formicinae. Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University 31, 87–157.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Borowiec M. L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1–280.
• Jaitron W., and D. Wiwatwitaya. 2013. Two new species of the Aenictus pachycerus species group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae) from southeast Asia. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61(1): 97-102.
• Karavaiev V. 1926. Ameisen aus dem Indo-Australischen Gebiet. Treubia 8: 413-445.
• Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
• Shattuck, S. O. 2008. Review of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Australia with notes on A. ceylonicus (Mayr). Zootaxa 1926:1-19.