Aenictogiton attenuatus

Aenictogiton attenuatus is only known from males, as is the case for all its congeners. The biology of this enigmatic genus remains a mystery. Brown (1975) mentioned the possibility that these ants are subterranean or otherwise strongly cryptobiotic; no foraging worker nor any trace of a colony has ever been found. Phylogenetic and morphological affinities to the army ant genus Dorylus suggest an army-ant-like lifestyle, although there is no current evidence for this. Most males were collected from light traps close to forest localities, indicating that Aenictogiton might prefer forested habitats. (Garcia, Wiesel and Fischer 2013)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Democratic Republic of Congo, United Republic of Tanzania.

Nomenclature

 * . Aenictogiton elongatus var. attenuatus Santschi, 1919c: 247, fig. 2b (m.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
 * Type-material: holotype male.
 * Type-locality: Democratic Republic of Congo (“Congo belge”): 300 km de Kindu, 21.iv.1914 (L. Burgeon).
 * Type-depository: MRAC.
 * Subspecies of elongatus: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 750; Bolton, 1995b: 58.
 * Status as species: Santschi, 1924b: 199; Brown, 1975: 45.
 * Distribution: Democratic Republic of Congo.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Baroni Urbani C. 1977. Katalog der Typen von Formicidae (Hymenoptera) der Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Basel (2. Teil). Mitt. Entomol. Ges. Basel (n.s.) 27: 61-102.
 * Borowiec M. L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1–280.
 * IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
 * Santschi F. 1919. Fourmis nouvelles du Congo. Revue Zoologique Africaine (Brussels) 6: 243-250.
 * Santschi F. 1924. Descriptions de nouveaux Formicides africains et notes diverses. II. Revue Zoologique Africaine (Brussels) 12: 195-224.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004