Anoplolepis tenella

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Anoplolepis tenella
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Plagiolepidini
Genus: Anoplolepis
Species: A. tenella
Binomial name
Anoplolepis tenella
(Santschi, 1911)

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Specimen Labels

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 4.149444444° to 1.010278°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Cameroon, Congo (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Biology

The root feeding Hemipteran Stictococcus Vayssierei is a cassava plant pest that can cause significant damage to this important food crop in some parts of Africa. Anoplolepis tenella tend this scale insect to access the honeydew they produce (Fotso et al. 2008). Ant colonies will establish nests under cassava plants infested with Stictococcus Vayssierei. The ants also transport the scale insects to new plants (Fotoso et al. 2015b). Anoplolepis tenella has also been found tending this same Hemipteran on other plants as well (Fotoso et al. 2015a).

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • tenella. Plagiolepis tenella Santschi, 1911c: 364 (w.) CONGO.
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: Congo (“Congo français”): Brazzaville, 1907 (A. Weiss).
    • Type-depository: NHMB.
    • [Also described as new by Santschi, 1911g: 210.]
    • [Plagiolepis tenella Forel, 1909b: 61. Nomen nudum (attributed to Santschi.]
    • Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 214 (q.m.).
    • Combination in Plagiolepis (Anoplolepis): Santschi, 1914b: 123;
    • combination in Anoplolepis (Anoplolepis): Emery, 1925b: 18.
    • Status as species:Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 214, 934; Emery, 1925b: 18; Bolton, 1995b: 67; Bolton, 2003: 267.
    • Distribution: Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
  • Santschi F. 1911. Nouvelles fourmis du Congo et du Benguela. Revue Zoologique Africaine (Brussels) 1: 204-217.
  • Tadu Z., C. Djieto-Lordon, R. Babin, Yede, E. B. Messop-Youbi, and A. Fomena. 2013. Influence of insecticide treatment on ant diversity in tropical agroforestry system: some aspect of the recolonization process. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 5(12): 832-844.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. II. The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 39-269.
  • 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