Dolichoderinae is a subfamily of ants, which includes species such as the Argentine ant, the erratic ant, the odorous house ant, and the cone ant. The subfamily presents a great diversity of species throughout the world, distributed in different biogeographic realms, from the Palearctic, Nearctic, Afrotropical region and Malaysia, to the Middle East, Australian, and Neotropical regions.
Leptomyrmex, or spider ants, is a genus of ants and a distinctive member of the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae. Commonly known as "spider ants" for their long legs and spider-like movements, these orange and black ants are prominent residents of intact wet forest and sclerophyll habitats throughout their range. One extant species, Leptomyrmex relictus, is known from central Brazil; otherwise, the global distribution of this genus is restricted to eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Guinea, as well as the nearby Indonesian islands of Aru and Seram.
Iridomyrmex is a genus of ants called rainbow ants first described by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr in 1862. He placed the genus in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicidae. It has 79 described species and five fossil species. Most of these ants are native to Australia; others are found in Asia and Oceania, and they have been introduced to Brazil, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates. Fossil species are known from China, France, and the United States.
Gustav L. Mayr was an Austrian entomologist and professor in Budapest and Vienna. He specialised in Hymenoptera, being particularly known for his studies of ants.
The Argentine ant is an ant native to northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil. This invasive species was inadvertently introduced by humans on a global scale and has become established in many Mediterranean climate areas, including South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Easter Island, Australia, Europe, Hawaii, and the continental United States. Argentine ants are significant pests within agricultural and urban settings, and are documented to cause substantial harm to communities of native arthropods, vertebrates, and plants within their invaded range.
Anochetus is a genus of small, carnivorous ants found in the tropics and subtropics throughout the world.
Prionomyrmex is an extinct genus of bulldog ants in the subfamily Myrmeciinae of the family Formicidae. It was first described by Gustav Mayr in 1868, after he collected a holotype worker of P. longiceps in Baltic amber. Three species are currently described, characterised by their long mandibles, slender bodies and large size. These ants are known from the Eocene and Late Oligocene, with fossil specimens only found around Europe. It is suggested that these ants preferred to live in jungles, with one species assumed to be an arboreal nesting species. These ants had a powerful stinger that was used to subdue prey. In 2000, it was suggested by Cesare Baroni Urbani that the living species Nothomyrmecia macrops and a species he described both belonged to Prionomyrmex, but this proposal has not been widely accepted by the entomological community. Instead, scientists still classify the two genera distinctive from each other, making Nothomyrmecia a valid genus.
Ochetellus glaber is a species of ant native to Australia. A member of the genus Ochetellus in the subfamily Dolichoderinae, it was described by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr in 1862. Aside from Australia, O. glaber has been introduced to a number of countries, including China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines and the United States, where it has established itself in Hawaii and Florida. It has been found on Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Réunion and the Solomon Islands. Compared with other ants, O. glaber is a small species, with workers measuring 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in). Males are the smallest at 1.6 mm (0.063 in), while the queens measure 5.2–5.5 mm (0.20–0.22 in). The ant's colour ranges from brown to black.
Thaumatomyrmex is a Neotropical genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae, found from Mexico to Brazil. They are notable for their pitchfork-shaped mandibles, which they use to capture millipedes of the order Polyxenida. The genus is a specialist predator of polyxenids, and one of only two ant genera known to prey upon polyxenids.
Tatuidris, or armadillo ant, is a rare genus of ants consisting of a single species, Tatuidris tatusia. The ants are small in size and inhabit the leaf litter of Neotropical forests in Central and South America, from Mexico to Brazil. Workers are ferruginous-colored to dark red and present a distinctive morphology, consisting of a shield-like head with a broad vertex, ventrally-turned heavy mandibles which do not overlap at full closure, and unique among ants – an antenna socket apparatus sitting upside-down. Little is known about the biology of the ants, but they are likely nocturnal and specialist predators.
Linepithema is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae.
Ochetellus is a genus of ants first described by Steve Shattuck in 1992. He placed it in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicidae. The ants in this genus are small and black in colour; workers measure 1.75 to 3 millimetres in length, the males at around 1.6 millimetres (0.06 in) are smaller, and the queens are the largest, reaching 4 millimetres (0.16 in). There are seven described species and three described subspecies that mostly live in Australia in a wide variety of habitats, but some species are found in Asia. One species, Ochetellus glaber, has been introduced into New Zealand and the United States.
Brownimecia is an extinct genus of ants, the only genus in the tribe Brownimeciini and subfamily Brownimeciinae of the Formicidae. Fossils of the single identified species, Brownimecia clavata, are known from the Middle Cretaceous of North America. The genus is one of several ants described from Middle Cretaceous ambers of New Jersey. Brownimecia was initially placed in the subfamily Ponerinae, until it was transferred to its own subfamily in 2003; it can be distinguished from other ants due to its unusual sickle-like mandibles and other morphological features that makes this ant unique among the Formicidae. The ant is also small, measuring 3.43 millimetres (0.135 in), and a stinger is present in almost all of the specimens collected. The morphology of the mandibles suggest a high level of feeding specialization.
Nylanderia is a large genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. The genus has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution with species inhabiting a wide array of habitats in almost all geographic regions. Nylanderia, currently containing over 110 species, is an ecologically important genus, with some species reported as being invasive. The ants are small to medium in size and range in color from pale yellow to black.
Tyrannomyrmex is a rare tropical genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Three similar species, only known from workers, are recognized and share small eyes and edentate mandibles.
Promyopias is an Afrotropical genus of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae containing the single species Promyopias silvestrii. The rare genus has previously been regarded as a separate genus, as a subgenus and as a provisional synonymy, but was reinstated at genus-rank in 2008.
Trichomyrmex destructor is a species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Its common names include destructive trailing ant or Singapore ant. It is a pest species in urban areas, known for causing costly damage to structures, vehicles, and electronic devices with its chewing activity. In 2015, the species was moved from the genus Monomorium to the revised genus Trichomyrmex.
Yantaromyrmex is an extinct genus of ants first described in 2013. Members of this genus are in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicidae, known from Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene fossils found in Europe. The genus currently contains five described species, Y. constrictus, Y. geinitzi, Y. intermedius, Y. mayrianum and Y. samlandicus. The first specimens were collected in 1868 and studied by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr, who originally placed the fossils in other ant genera until the fossils were reviewed and subsequently placed into their own genus. These ants are small, measuring from 4 to 6 mm in length and can be characterized by their trapezoidal shaped head-capsules and oval compound eyes that are located slightly to the rear of the capsules midpoint, with no known ocelli present.
Linepithema micans is a small species of ant from the genus Linepithema which was described by Forel in 1908. This ant is endemic to southern South America. In Brazil, it is considered a pest of vineyards in acting as the main species associated with the coccid Eurhizococcus brasiliensis. It is still a poorly studied species. Their abundant larvae are round and whitish, almost indistinguishable from the proximate species Linepithema humile, better known as the invasive Argentine ant.
