Leptanilla anomala

Leptanilla anomala
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Leptanillinae
Tribe:	Leptanillini
Genus:	Leptanilla
Species:	L. anomala
Binomial name
Leptanilla anomala (Brues, 1925)

This species was described from the male caste and the only known specimens were collected in Wai Lima, Lampongs, Sumatra. Its original description did not place this taxon in the Formicidae. It was transferred there by Petersen (1968) and this was confirmed by Boudinet (2015). Brues (1925) had this to say in the introduction to the description: The strange Hymenopteron described below was included among some insects collected in southern Sumatra by H. Karny and H. C. Siebers. Although I have been unable to determine its systematic relationships with any degree of satisfaction, the insect presents such striking characters that it will be very easily recognizable by anyone who may have opportunity to study its habits or to discover the other sex.

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Keys to Leptanillinae

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Indonesia (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

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.

Castes

Known only from males.

Nomenclature

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

• anomala. Scyphodon anomalum Brues, 1925: 95 (m.) INDONESIA (Sumatra).
  • Excluded from Formicidae; incertae sedis in ACULEATA: Ogata, Terayama & Masuko, 1995: 33.
  • Reinstated as Formicidae: Boudinot, 2015: 32 (by implication, genus name valid but species name not mentioned).
  • Status as species: Petersen, 1968: 591; Baroni Urbani, 1977c: 483; Bolton, 1995b: 382; Boudinot, 2015: 32.
  • Combination in Leptanilla: Griebenow, 2024: 129.

Type Material

• Holotype and paratype from Wai Lima, Lampongs, Sumatra (H. KARNY and H. C. SIEBERS).

Description

Petersen 1968. Figures 15.

References

• Boudinot, B.E. 2015. Contributions to the knowledge of Formicidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata): a new diagnosis of the family, the first global male-based key to subfamilies, and a treatment of early branching lineages. European Journal of Taxonomy 120, 1-62 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2015.120).
• Griebenow, Z. 2020. Delimitation of tribes in the subfamily Leptanillinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a description of the male of Protanilla lini Terayama, 2009. Myrmecological News 30: 229-250. (doi:10.25849/MYRMECOL.NEWS_030:229).
• Griebenow, Z.H. 2021. Synonymisation of the male-based ant genus Phaulomyrma (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) with Leptanilla based upon Bayesian total-evidence phylogenetic inference. Invertebrate Systematics 35, 603–636 (doi:10.1071/is20059).
• Griebenow, Z. 2024. Systematic revision of the ant subfamily Leptanillinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1189, 83–184 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1189.107506).
• Ogata, K.; Terayama, M.; Masuko, K. 1995. The ant genus Leptanilla: discovery of the worker-associated male of L. japonica, and a description of a new species from Taiwan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Leptanillinae). Syst. Entomol. 20: 27-34.
• Petersen, B. 1968. Some novelties in presumed males of Leptanillinae (Hym., Formicidae). Entomologiske Meddelelser 36:577-598.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Brues C. T. 1925. Scyphodon, an anomalous genus of Hymenoptera of doubtful affinities. Treubia 6: 93-96.