| Aenictus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Aenictus ceylonicus worker from Indonesia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Dorylinae |
| Genus: | Aenictus Shuckard, 1840 |
| Type species | |
| Aenictus ambiguus [1] | |
| Diversity [2] | |
| 181 species | |
| Synonyms | |
Aenictus is a large army ant genus distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics. [3] It contains about 181 species, [2] making it one of the larger ant genera of the world. [4]
The genus presently has 181 species, [2] distributed through the East Mediterranean, Afrotropical, Oriental, Indo-Australian, and Australian regions. [4] [5] [6] [7] Most of the species are tropical, [6] with terrestrial habitats, foraging in soil, leaf litter, most of the Southeast Asian species forage on the ground, and some on trees [8] and hunting other ant species and termites. [5] [9] [10]
Most species of the genus are specialized predators of other ants, especially of immature stages. [5] [9] [11] Only some Asian species such as Aenictus gracilis , Aenictus laeviceps , Aenictus hodgsoni , and Aenictus paradentatus are known to hunt a variety of invertebrate prey, including ants, using a large number of workers in raids. [5] [8] [12] [13] Foraging raids undertaken by these ants occur both day and night, usually across the ground surface but occasionally also in trees. During raids, numerous workers attack ant nests in a small area, with several workers coordinating their efforts to carry large prey items back to the nest or bivouac. [3] Species of Aenictus are generally small, monomorphic and yellow to dark brown. [10]
This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Jaitrong, W. J.; Yamane, S. (2012). "Review of the Southeast Asian species of the Aenictus javanus and Aenictus philippinensis species groups (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Aenictinae)". ZooKeys (193): 49–78. Bibcode:2012ZooK..193...49J. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.193.2768 . PMC 3361139 . PMID 22679379. Please check the source for the exact licensing terms. This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Sharaf, M.; Aldawood, A.; El-Hawagry, M. (2012). "First record of the ant subfamily Aenictinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Saudi Arabia, with the description of a new species". ZooKeys (228): 39–49. Bibcode:2012ZooK..228...39S. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.228.3559 . PMC 3487640 . PMID 23166469. Please check the source for the exact licensing terms. This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Jaitrong, W. J.; Yamane, S. (2013). "The Aenictus ceylonicus species group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Aenictinae) from Southeast Asia". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 31: 165–233. doi: 10.3897/JHR.31.4274 . Please check the source for the exact licensing terms.
