Eurhopalothrix

Eurhopalothrix
Eurhopalothrix bolaui
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Eurhopalothrix Brown & Kempf, 1961
Type species
Rhopalothrix bolaui, now Eurhopalothrix bolaui
Diversity
55 species (Species Checklist, Species by Country) Eurhopalothrix bolaui Specimen Label

Evolutionary Relationships

Attini Ochetomyrmex (2 species), Tranopelta (2 species) Allomerus (8 species), Blepharidatta (4 species), Diaphoromyrma (1 species), Lachnomyrmex (16 species), Wasmannia (11 species) Acanthognathus (7 species), Colobostruma (16 species), Daceton (2 species), Epopostruma (20 species), Lenomyrmex (7 species), Mesostruma (9 species), Microdaceton (4 species), Orectognathus (29 species), Acromyrmex (56 species), Apterostigma (44 species), Atta (20 species), Cyatta (1 species), Cyphomyrmex (23 species), Kalathomyrmex (1 species), Mycetophylax (21 species), Mycetagroicus (4 species), Mycetarotes (4 species), Mycetosoritis (2 species), Mycocepurus (6 species), Myrmicocrypta (31 species), Sericomyrmex (11 species), Trachymyrmex (9 species), Xerolitor (1 species) Pheidole   (1,294 species) Cephalotes   (123 species) Procryptocerus   (44 species) Strumigenys   (859 species) Phalacromyrmex   (1 species) Pilotrochus   (1 species) Protalaridris   (7 species) Rhopalothrix   (16 species) Basiceros   (9 species) Octostruma   (35 species) Eurhopalothrix   (55 species) Talaridris   (1 species)

Based on Ward et al. (2014), Blaimer et al. (2018) and Li et al. (2018).

The genus Eurhopalothrix occurs throughout the Neotropics and Indo-Australian tropics, where it is an inhabitant of forest leaf litter and soil.

Identification

Eurhopalothrix are characterized as basicerotines with 7-segmented antennae and triangular mandibles (Brown and Kempf, 1960; Bolton, 2003). The tribe basicerotini is taxonomically problematic as there is no single accepted classification of its species into genera. Baroni Urbani and de Andrade (2007) synonymized the tribe Basicerotini with the Dacetini and proposed that all basicerotine genera be placed in the genus Basiceros. Longino (2013) revised the New World basicerotine species with 7-segmented antennae and triangular mandibles, as Eurhopalothrix, and recognized 28 species. Other Eurhopalothrix species are found in Australia and southeast Asia.

See images of species within this genus

Keys including this Genus

• Key to Australian Genera of Myrmicinae
• Key to North American Genera of Myrmicinae
• Key to Vietnamese Myrmicinae Genera

 

Keys to Species in this Genus

• Key to Australian Eurhopalothrix Species
• Key to New World Eurhopalothrix
• Key to Old World Basicerotini
• Key to Eurhopalothrix platisquama group workers
• Key to the southern South American Eurhopalothrix

Biology

Life History Traits

• Mean colony size: 50 (Greer et al., 2021)
• Compound colony type: not parasitic (Greer et al., 2021)
• Nest site: hypogaeic (Greer et al., 2021)
• Diet class: predator (Greer et al., 2021)
• Foraging stratum: subterranean/leaf litter (Greer et al., 2021)
• Foraging behaviour: cooperative (Greer et al., 2021)

Morphology

Worker Morphology

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

Karyotype

Species Uncertain

• 2n = 18 (Malaysia) (Imai et al., 1983) ('E. procera group).

All Karyotype Records for Genus

Explore Data: All, Drilldown

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Taxon	Haploid	Diploid	Karyotype	Locality	Source	Notes
Eurhopalothrix		18		Malaysia	Imai et al., 1983	'E. procera'' group

Nomenclature

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

• EURHOPALOTHRIX [Myrmicinae: Basicerotini]
  • Eurhopalothrix Brown & Kempf, 1961: 44. Type-species: Rhopalothrix bolaui, by original designation.
  • [Eurhopalothrix Brown & Kempf, 1960: 202; unavailable name, proposed without designation of type-species.]
  • Eurhopalothrix junior synonym of Basiceros: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 88.

Taxonomic Notes

All taxa of genera Eurhopalothrix, Octostruma, Protalaridris, Rhopalothrix and Talaridris were combined in Basiceros, sensu Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 90-93. Synonymy of all basicerotine genera under Basiceros, by Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 88, is incorrect procedure as Rhopalothrix has priority. Basicerotine genus-rank taxonomy documented in Bolton, 2003: 183-185, is retained.

References

• Baroni Urbani, C.; De Andrade, M. L. 1994. First description of fossil Dacetini ants with a critical analysis of the current classification of the tribe (Amber Collection Stuttgart: Hymenoptera, Formicidae. VI: Dacetini). Stuttg. Beitr. Naturkd. Ser. B ( (page 31, Eurhopalothrix in Myrmicinae, Dacetini)
• Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp. (page 105, Eurhopalothrix in Myrmicinae, Basicerotini)
• Bolton, B. 1998a. Monophyly of the dacetonine tribe-group and its component tribes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. Entomol. Ser. 67: 65-78 (page 67, Eurhopalothrix in Myrmicinae, Basicerotini)
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 184, Eurhopalothrix in Myrmicinae, Basicerotini [Eurhopalothrix Brown & Kempf, 1960: 202; unavailable name, proposed without designation of type-species.])
• Boudinot, B.E. 2019. Hormigas de Colombia. Cap. 15. Clave para las subfamilias y generos basada en machos. Pp. 487-499 in: Fernández, F., Guerrero, R.J., Delsinne, T. (eds.) 2019d. Hormigas de Colombia. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 1198 pp.
• Brown, W. L., Jr.; Kempf, W. W. 1960. A world revision of the ant tribe Basicerotini. Stud. Entomol. (n.s.) 3: 161-250 (page 202, 245, Eurhopalothrix ; unavailable name, proposed without designation of type species; Key to world species)
• Brown, W. L., Jr.; Kempf, W. W. 1961 [1960]. The type species of the ant genus Eurhopalothrix. Psyche (Camb.) 67: 44 (page 44, Eurhopalothrix in Myrmicinae, Basicerotini)
• Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
• Fernandez, F., Guerrero, R.J., Sánchez-Restrepo, A.F. 2021. Sistemática y diversidad de las hormigas neotropicales. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 47, 1–20 (doi:10.25100/socolen.v47i1.11082).
• Hanisch, P.E., Sosa-Calvo, J., Schultz, T.R. 2022. The last piece of the puzzle? Phylogenetic position and natural history of the monotypic fungus-farming ant genus Paramycetophylax (Formicidae: Attini). Insect Systematics and Diversity 6 (1): 11:1-17 (doi:10.1093/isd/ixab029).
• Jansen, G., Savolainen, R. 2010. Molecular phylogeny of the ant tribe Myrmicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 160(3), 482–495 (doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00604.x).
• Longino J. T. 2013. A review of the Central American and Caribbean species of the ant genus Eurhopalothrix Brown and Kempf, 1961 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), with a key to New World species. Zootaxa. 3693:101-151. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3693.2.1
• Satria, R., Jannatan, R. 2021. Dealate queens of the ant genus Eurhopalothrix Brown et Kempf, 1961 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) from Sumatra. Far Eastern entomologist 430, 11–16 (doi:10.25221/fee.430.3).
• Taylor, R. W. 1968c. Notes on the Indo-Australian basicerotine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Aust. J. Zool. 16: 333-348 (page 334, Key to Indo-Australian species)
• Taylor, R. W. 1990c. New Asian ants of the tribe Basicerotini, with an on-line computer interactive key to the twenty-six known Indo-Australian species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Invertebr. Taxon. 4: 397-425 (page 401, Key to Indo-Australian species)