| Aenictoteratini | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Staphylinidae |
| Subfamily: | Aleocharinae |
| Tribe: | Aenictoteratini Kistner, 1993 |
| Genera | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
Aenictobiini | |
Aenictoteratini is a myrmecophilous tribe of rove beetles in the subfamily Aleocharinae which contains 10 genera, 7 of which are monotypic. [1] In total, there are 17 species currently listed as Aenictoteratini. [1]
Most Aenictoteratini genera are found in East Asia, specifically China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, while Weiria australis (Ashe, 2003) is the only species known from Australia. [2] All species are found inside of nests of the ant genus Aenictus . [3]
Members of this tribe are highly adapted to life among ants, with body shapes resembling those of their hosts. [3]
Many genera placed in Aenictoteratini when the tribe was created in 1993 have subsequently been moved to the Myrmedoniina, a subtribe of Lomechusini, after phylogenetic analyses revealed that the group was not monophyletic. [3] [2] [4] Many of the characteristics first used to define the tribe, such as an antlike "pseudo-gaster" narrowed abdomen, can be found in other lineages of myrmecophilous Aleocharinae that resemble ants, making this a case of convergent evolution. [3] [2] [4]
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules and sympetalous actinomorphic flowers. The family contains about 13,500 species in about 620 genera, which makes it the fourth-largest angiosperm family. Rubiaceae has a cosmopolitan distribution; however, the largest species diversity is concentrated in the tropics and subtropics. Economically important genera include Coffea, the source of coffee, Cinchona, the source of the antimalarial alkaloid quinine, ornamental cultivars, and historically some dye plants.
Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide. They are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as Sassafras, are deciduous, or include both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, especially in tropical and temperate climates. The genus Cassytha is unique in the Lauraceae in that its members are parasitic vines. Most laurels are highly poisonous.
The rove beetles are a family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra that typically leave more than half of their abdominal segments exposed. With roughly 63,000 species in thousands of genera, the group is the second largest family in the beetle order, after the true weevils (Curculionidae), which also makes in one of the largest families of organisms. It is an ancient group, with fossilized rove beetles known from the Triassic, 200 million years ago, and possibly even earlier if the genus Leehermania proves to be a member of this family. They are an ecologically and morphologically diverse group of beetles, and commonly encountered in terrestrial ecosystems.
Ocalea is a genus of the rove beetles. The group contains 24 species which can be found on the mainland of Europe North America, and in New Zealand.
Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.
Pselaphinae are a subfamily of beetles in the family Staphylinidae, the rove beetles. The group was originally regarded as a separate family named Pselaphidae. Newton and Thayer (1995) placed them in the Omaliine group of the family Staphylinidae based on shared morphological characters.
The name army ant (or legionary ant or marabunta) is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited area.
Myrmecophily is the term applied to positive interspecies associations between ants and a variety of other organisms, such as plants, other arthropods, and fungi. Myrmecophily refers to mutualistic associations with ants, though in its more general use, the term may also refer to commensal or even parasitic interactions.
Ant nest beetles or paussines, some members of which are known also as flanged bombardier beetles, are a large subfamily within the ground beetles (Carabidae).The tribes Metriini, Ozaenini, Paussini and Protopaussini are included in the subfamily.
Silvanidae, "silvan flat bark beetles", is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea, consisting of 68 described genera and about 500 described species. The family is represented on all continents except Antarctica, and is most diverse at both the generic and species levels in the Old World tropics.
The Aleocharinae are one of the largest subfamilies of rove beetles, containing over 12,000 species. Previously subject to large-scale debate whether the subfamily deserved the familial status, it is now considered one of the largest subfamilies of rove beetles.
Many species of Staphylinidae have developed complex interspecies relationships with ants, known as myrmecophily. Rove beetles are among the most rich and diverse families of myrmecophilous beetles, with a wide variety of relationships with ants. Ant associations range from near free-living species which prey only on ants, to obligate inquilines of ants, which exhibit extreme morphological and chemical adaptations to the harsh environments of ant nests. Some species are fully integrated into the host colony, and are cleaned and fed by ants. Many of these, including species in tribe Clavigerini, are myrmecophagous, placating their hosts with glandular secretions while eating the brood.
Colilodion schulzi is a species of beetles belonging to the family Staphylinidae. This small, robust, reddish-brown rove beetle is known from a single specimen, a 2.37 millimetres (0.093 in) long female. It resembles the species C. concinnus and C. inopinatus with its enlarged antennomeres III, but it is easily distinguished by the greater maximum width and less variable width of these appendages, and by other morphological characteristics. Although its ecology is unknown, the presence of trichomes and the knowledge of related species, such as Staphylinidae suggests that this insect is myrmecophilous. The holotype was collected in 2009 in Palawan (Philippines) while sifting plant debris in a coniferous forest. The species was described in 2016 by the coleopterists Zi-Wei Yin from Shanghai Normal University and Giulio Cuccodoro from the Natural History Museum of Geneva, where the type specimen is part of the collection. The taxon's specific denomination is dedicated to the German myrmecologist Andreas Schulz, collector of the specimen.
Symphiles are insects or other organisms which live as welcome guests in the nest of a social insect by which they are fed and guarded. The relationship between the symphile and host may be symbiotic, inquiline or parasitic.
Kenocoelus is a genus of rove beetles containing a number of species, all endemic to New Zealand. It is part of the Trichonychini tribe, in the Pselaphinae subfamily of Staphylinidae.
Athetini is a tribe of rove beetles in the family Staphylinidae. There are at least 50 genera and 430 described species in Athetini.
Sceptobius is a genus of rove beetles in the family Staphylinidae. There are at least three described species in Sceptobius.
Xenodusa cava is a species of rove beetle in the family Staphylinidae. It is found in North America. It is myrmecophilic, with its larvae living in ant colonies, begging for food and consuming ant larvae.
Oxypodini is a tribe of rove beetles in the family Staphylinidae. There are more than 50 genera and 580 described species in Oxypodini.
Beyeria is a genus of rove beetles in the family Staphylinidae. There are at least two described species in Beyeria.