Protanilla

Protanilla
Protanilla rafflesi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Leptanillinae
Tribe:	Leptanillini
Genus:	Protanilla Taylor, 1990
Type species
Protanilla rafflesi
Diversity
18 species (Species Checklist, Species by Country)
Synonyms
Anomalomyrma Taylor, 1990 Furcotanilla Xu, Z., 2012 Protanilla rafflesi Specimen Label

Protanilla usually occur in well-developed forests but can sometimes be found along forest edges. They nest in rotten wood fragments and in soil (Vietnam, Eguchi et al 2014). In Borneo colonies, complete with dealate queens, were found in very rotten wood (one log, one partially buried stump) which were in an advanced stage of decay, the bulk of the colony being in the soil-wood layer immediately above the underlying clay soil.

Identification

Satria, Putri & Ahda (2023) - Characterized by its fully exposed antennal sockets in full-face view; clypeal disc trapezoidal, raised and flattened, and margined laterally with a sharp edge; inner surface of mandible with peg-like teeth; promesonotal suture present and flexible (Eguchi et al. 2014).

Keys including this Genus

• Key to Leptanillinae Genera
• Key to Vietnamese Leptanillinae Genera

 

Keys to Species in this Genus

• Key to Protanilla species

Distribution

Distributed across the Indo-Malayan, Warm-temperate Palaearctic, Australasian and southern-Paleotropical regions of the world.

Species by Region

Number of species within biogeographic regions, along with the total number of species for each region.

	Afrotropical Region	Australasian Region	Indo-Australian Region	Malagasy Region	Nearctic Region	Neotropical Region	Oriental Region	Palaearctic Region
Species	0	0	2	0	0	0	7	7
Total Species	2840	1735	3042	932	835	4378	1740	2862

Biology

Cryptic and hypogeaic ants, it is unclear if they are rare or woefully undersampled. Myrmecologists have yet to implement adaquate techniques to sample the world's underground ant fauna. One recently discovery species, Protanilla beijingensis, was taken from a subterranean pitfall trap using a sampler that could prove useful for future surveys.

Morphology

Worker Morphology

 Explore: Show all Worker Morphology data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Male Morphology

 Explore: Show all Male Morphology data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

 • Caste unknown

Phylogeny

Leptanillinae	Opamyrmini Opamyrma  (1 species, 0 fossil species) Leptanillini Leptanilla  (62 species, 0 fossil species) Protanilla  (18 species, 0 fossil species)

See Phylogeny of Leptanillinae for details.

Nomenclature

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

• PROTANILLA [Leptanillinae: Anomalomyrmini]
  • Protanilla Taylor, in Bolton, 1990b: 279. Type-species: Protanilla rafflesi Taylor, in Bolton, 1990b: 279, by original designation.
  • Protanilla in Leptanillinae: Anomalomyrmini: Bolton, 1990b: 279; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990: 12; Kugler, C. 1992: 107; Bolton, 1994: 70; Bolton, 2003: 152.
  • Protanilla as genus: all authors.
  • Protanilla as senior synonym of Furcotanilla: Hsu, et al. 2017: 119, 128.
  • Protanilla catalogues: Bolton, 1995b: 369.
• ANOMALOMYRMA [junior synonym of Protanilla]
  • Anomalomyrma Taylor, in Bolton, 1990b: 278. Type-species: Anomalomyrma taylori, by original designation.
  • Anomalomyrma junior synonym of Protanilla: Griebenow, 2024: 117.
• FURCOTANILLA [junior synonym of Protanilla]
  • Furcotanilla Xu, 2012c: 481. Type-species: Protanilla furcomandibula Xu & Zhang, 2002: 140, by original designation.
  • Furcotanilla in Leptanillinae, Anomalomyrmini: Xu, 2012c: 482.
  • Furcotanilla junior synonym of Protanilla: Hsu, et al. 2017: 119; Griebenow, 2024: 117.

References

• Aswaj, P., Anoop, K., Priyadarsanan, D.R. 2020. First record of the rarely collected ant Protanilla gengma Xu, 2012 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Leptanillinae) from the Indian subcontinent. Check List 16, 1621–1625 (doi:10.15560/16.6.1621).
• Bharti, H. & Akbar, S.A. 2015. First record of genus Protanilla from India with description of a new species. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology 18: 573-576.
• Billen, J., Bauweleers, E., Hashim, R.& Ito, F. 2013.Survey of the exocrine system in Protanilla wallacei (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Arthropod Structure & Development 42, 173-183.
• Billen, J., Khalife, A., Ito, F., Anh, N.D., Esteves, F.A. 2021. The basitarsal sulcus gland, a novel exocrine structure in ants. Arthropod Structure, Development 61, 101041 (doi:10.1016/j.asd.2021.101041).
• Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp. (page 70, Protanilla in Leptanillinae, Anomalomyrmini)
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 369, Protanilla in Leptanillinae, Anomalomyrmini)
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 152, Protanilla in Leptanillinae, Anomalomyrmini)
• Borowiec, M.L., Schulz, A., Alpert, G.D. & Baňař, P. 2011. Discovery of the worker caste and description of two new species of Anomalomyrma with unique abdominal morphology. Zootaxa 2810: 1-14.
• 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).
• Eguchi, K., Bui, T.V. and Yamane, S. 2014. Generic Synopsis of the Formicidae of Vietnam (Insecta: Hymenoptera), Part II - Cerapachyinae, Aenictinae, Dorylinae, Leptanillinae, Amblyoponinae, Ponerinae, Ectatomminae and Ponerinae. Zootaxa. 3860:1–46.
• 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).
• Griebenow, Z. 2024. Systematic revision of the ant subfamily Leptanillinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1189, 83–184 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1189.107506).
• Hölldobler, B.; Wilson, E. O. 1990. The ants. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, xii + 732 pp. (page 12, Protanilla in Leptanillinae, Anomalomyrmini)
• Hsu, P.-W., Hsu, F.-C., Hsiao, Y. & Lin, C.-C. 2017. Taxonomic notes on the genus Protanilla from Taiwan. Zootaxa 4268, 117-130 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4268.1.7).
• Ito, F., Hashim, R., Mizuno, R., Billen, J. 2021. Notes on the biology of Protanilla sp. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) collected in Ulu Gombak, Peninsular Malaysia. Insectes Sociaux (doi:10.1007/s00040-021-00839-z).
• Kreider, J.J., Chen, T.W., Hartke, T.R., Buchori, D., Hidayat, P., Nazarreta, R., Scheu, S., Drescher, J. 2021. Rainforest conversion to monocultures favors generalist ants with large colonies. Ecosphere 12 (doi:10.1002/ecs2.3717).
• Kugler, C. 1992. Stings of ants of the Leptanillinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche (Camb.) 99: 103-115 (page 107, Protanilla in Leptanillinae, Anomalomyrmini)
• Man, P., Ran, H., Chen, Z. & Xu, Z. 2017. The northern-most record of Leptanillinae in China with description of Protanilla beijingensis. Asian Myrmecology 9: 12 pp. e009008. doi:10.20362/am.009008
• Taylor, R. W. 1990b. [Untitled. Anomalomyrmini Taylor tribe n., Anomalomyrma Taylor gen. n., Protanilla Taylor gen. n.] Pp. 278-279 in: Bolton, B. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Leptanillinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Syst. Entomol. 15 (page 279, Protanilla rafflesi as genus; Protanilla in Leptanillinae, Anomalomyrmini)
• Xu, Z.-H. 2002a. A systematic study on the ant subfamily Leptanillinae of China (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Acta Zootaxon. Sin. 45: 115-120 (page 118, China species key)
• Xu, Z.-H. 2012c. Furcotanilla, a new genus of the ant subfamily Leptanillinae from China with descriptions of two new species of Protanilla and P. rafflesi Taylor. Sociobiology 59: 477-491.
• Xu, Z.-H.; Zhang, J.-L. 2002. Two new species of the ant subfamily Leptanillinae from Yunnan, China (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Acta Entomol. Sin. 27: 139-144 (page 140, China species key)