Aenictus eugenii

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Aenictus eugenii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dorylinae
Genus: Aenictus
Species group: eugenii
Species: A. eugenii
Binomial name
Aenictus eugenii
Emery, 1895

Eugenii casent0415253 p 1 high.jpg

Eugenii casent0415253 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Label

Synonyms
At a Glance • Ergatoid queen  

Santschi (1933) observed these ants tending Pseudococcus lilacinus, one of just a few rare records of an army ant associating with honeydew producing insects.

Identification

Identification is straightforward due to the clypeal shape reduced to two teeth between the antennal sockets, its linear mandibles not closing against it and its long overall pilosity. Aenictus mvuvii shares the mandibular configuration but A. eugenii is larger, even in the minima workers (0.59<HW<0.89 vs. A. mvuvii 0.44<HW<0.59, 1.02<WL<1.40 vs. A. mvuvii 0.72<WL<0.91) with relatively longer scapes (69<SIL<83 vs. A. mvuvii 52<SIL<63) and presents long, unequal semierect to erect setae, while it’s adpressed in A. mvuvii.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 15.3333° to -28.42192°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo (type locality), Democratic Republic of Congo (type locality), Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia (type locality), Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa (type locality), Uganda, Zimbabwe.

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

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • This species is a associate (details unknown) for the phorid fly Aenigmatopoeus sequax (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).

Castes

Ergatoid queen of A. eugenii. From Gotwald & Cunningham-van Sommeren 1976.

Images from AntWeb

Aenictus brazzai casent0911418 h 1 high.jpgAenictus brazzai casent0911418 p 1 high.jpgAenictus brazzai casent0911418 d 1 high.jpgAenictus brazzai casent0911418 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Aenictus brazzaiWorker. Specimen code casent0911418. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMB, Basel, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

  • eugenii. Aenictus eugenii Emery, 1895h: 17, pl. 2, figs. 1-4 (w.) SOUTH AFRICA.
    • Type-material: holotype worker.
    • Type-locality: South Africa: Makapan, i.-iv.1893 (E. Simon).
    • Type-depository: MSNG.
    • [Misspelled as eugeniae by Arnold, 1915: 139, and others.]
    • Gotwald & Cunningham-Van Someren, 1976: 183 (q.).
    • Status as species: Emery, 1895j: 747; Wasmann, 1904b: 676; Emery, 1910b: 31; Forel, 1911e: 255; Arnold, 1915: 139 (redescription); Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 752; Prins, 1963: 97; Gotwald & Cunningham-Van Someren, 1976: 183; Bolton, 1995b: 59; Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 201.
    • Senior synonym of kenyensis: Gotwald & Cunningham-Van Someren, 1976: 183; Bolton, 1995b: 59.
    • Distribution: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe.
  • brazzai. Aenictus eugenii var. brazzai Santschi, 1910c: 355 (w.) CONGO.
    • Type-material: 11 syntype workers.
    • Type-locality: Congo (“Congo français”): Brazzaville, 1.xii.1906 (A. Weiss).
    • Type-depository: NHMB.
    • Subspecies of eugenii: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 752.
    • Status as species: Santschi, 1924b: 204; Bolton, 1995b: 59.
    • Junior synonym of eugenii: Gomez, 2022: 26.
    • Distribution: Congo.
  • caroli. Aenictus eugenii subsp. caroli Forel, 1910c: 248 (w.) ERITREA.
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: Eritrea: Nefassit, 1906 (K. Escherich).
    • Type-depositories: MHNG, NHMB.
    • Subspecies of eugenii: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 752; Finzi, 1939a: 162; Bolton, 1995b: 59; Madl, 2019: 13.
    • Junior synonym of eugenii: Gomez, 2022: 26.
    • Distribution: Eritrea.
  • henrii. Aenictus eugenii var. henrii Santschi, 1924b: 204 (w.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
    • Type-material: 4 syntype workers.
    • Type-locality: Democratic Republic of Congo (“Congo belge”): Kidada, nr Kitobola (H. Schouteden).
    • Type-depository: NHMB.
    • Subspecies of eugenii: Bolton, 1995b: 59.
    • Junior synonym of eugenii: Gomez, 2022: 26.
    • Distribution: Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • kenyensis. Aenictus eugeniae var. kenyensis Santschi, 1933b: 100 (w.) KENYA.
    • Type-material: 15 syntype workers.
    • Type-locality: Kenya: Kiambou, 27.ii.1929, no. 180, attending Pseudococcus lilacinus (Le Pelley).
    • Type-depositories: BMNH, NHMB.
    • Junior synonym of eugenii: Gotwald & Cunningham-Van Someren, 1976: 183; Bolton, 1995b: 60.

Type Material

  • Aenictus eugenii
    • Syntype worker, SOUTH AFRICA, [CASENT0903759, seen on web]; Syntype A. eugenii, no loc. data (1w) MHNG [Examined by Gomez, 2022].
  • Aenictus eugenii brazzai
    • Syntype workers (3w), CONGO: Brazzaville 01.dec.1906 (Weiss) (3w) [CASENT0911418] NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntype, same data, (2 pins, 1w each) MHNG [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntype, same data, (2 pins, 1w each) [MRACFOR000016, MRACFOR000017] MRAC [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; same data, not labelled as type (2w, 3w) NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; same data, not labelled as type (3w) [EY19928] MNHN [Examined by Gomez, 2022].
  • Aenictus eugenii caroli
    • Syntype worker, ERITREA: Nefassit (1w) NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntype, Nefassit (Escherich) (1w) NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntype, Erythraea (4w) (Escherich) NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntype, Nefassit (Escherich) (3w) MHNG [Examined by Gomez, 2022], Syntype, same data (2w) [CASENT0907026] MHNG [Examined by Gomez, 2022].
  • Aenictus eugenii henrii
    • Syntype worker, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Kidada (Kitobola) 14-25.ii.1922 (Dr. H. Schouteden) (1w) [CASENT0911423] NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntype, same data (15 pins, 1w each) [MRACFOR000018 to MRACFOR000032] MRAC [Examined by Gomez, 2022].
  • Aenictus eugeniae kenyensis
    • Syntype worker, KENYA: Kiambou (La Pelley) (8w) [CASENT0902686] NHMB [Examined by Gomez, 2022]; Syntypes, Liambu 27/02/1929 (R. H. Le Pelley) (3w each) [NHMUK012849233, NHMUK012849234] BMNH [Examined by Gomez, 2022].

Description

Emery 1895i, page 17
Emery 1895i, page 18

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Arnold G. 1915. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part I. Ponerinae, Dorylinae. Annals of the South African Museum 14: 1-159.
  • 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.
  • Forel A. 1911. Die Ameisen des K. Zoologischen Museums in München. Sitzungsber. Math.-Phys. Kl. K. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. Münch. 11: 249-303.
  • Gotwald W. H., Jr.; Cunningham-van Someren, G. R. 1976. Taxonomic and behavioral notes on the African ant, Aenictus eugenii Emery, with a description of the queen (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 84:182-188.
  • Gotwald, W. H., Jr.; Cunningham-van Someren, G. R. 1976. Taxonomic and behavioral notes on the African ant, Aenictus eugenii Emery, with a description of the queen (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 84:182-188.
  • Hita Garcia F., E. Wiesel, G. Fischer. 2013. The ants of Kenya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)—faunal overview, first species checklist, bibliography, accounts for all genera, and discussion on taxonomy and zoogeography. Journal of East African Natural History 101: 127-222.
  • IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
  • Prins A. J. 1963. A list of the ants collected in the Kruger National Park with notes on their distribution. Koedoe 6: 91-108.
  • Prins A. J. 1964. Revised list of the ants collected in the Kruger National Park. Koedoe 7: 77-93.
  • Santschi F. 1910. Formicides nouveaux ou peu connus du Congo français. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 78: 349-400.
  • Santschi F. 1933. Contribution à l'étude des fourmis de l'Afrique tropicale. Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 73: 95-108.
  • Ward P. S. 2007. The ant genus Leptanilloides: discovery of the male and evaluation of phylogenetic relationships based on DNA sequence data. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80: 637-649.
  • 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