Aenictogiton

Hita Garcia, Wiesel and Fischer (2013) - The genus occurs in Central, South, and East Africa and is biogeographically limited to the Afrotropical region (Brown, 1975; Parr et al., 2003; Hita Garcia et al., 2009). Material of Aenictogiton is generally scarce, and consists solely of male specimens. Brown (1975) already stated the complete lack of knowledge concerning the female castes, which, despite intensive search efforts, have not been discovered until the present day. The known species richness appears comparatively small, with just seven described species (Brown, 1975), although a good number of unidentifiable and possibly undescribed specimens located in several museum collections await taxonomic examination and possibly description as new species. The taxonomy of the genus can be regarded as unsatisfactory since it was never revised after the initial species descriptions (Emery, 1901; Forel, 1913; Santschi, 1919b, 1924).

Species richness
Species richness by country based on regional taxon lists (countries with darker colours are more species-rich). View Data



Biology
Garcia, Wiesel and Fischer (2013) - The biology of this enigmatic genus remains an almost complete mystery. Brown (1975) mentioned the possibility that these ants are subterranean or otherwise strongly cryptobiotic; we fully agree since no foraging worker nor any trace of a colony could ever be 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. However, most males were collected from light traps close to forest localities, indicating that Aenictogiton might prefer forested habitats.

Castes
Only known from males. Finding a colony of one of the species in this enigmatic genus is surely on the top ten list of "ants that need to be found."

Nomenclature

 *  AENICTOGITON [Aenictogitoninae]
 * Aenictogiton Emery, 1901d: 49. Type-species: Aenictogiton fossiceps, by monotypy.