''Acropyga'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of small formicine

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s. Some species can be indirect pests. '' A. acutiventris'', which is found from India to Australia, tends subterranean, root-feeding

mealybug Mealybugs are insects in the family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm habitats. Of the more than 2,000 described species, many are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and ...

s of the species '' Xenococcus annandalei''. Living, gravid females are carried in the jaws of ''A. acutiventris'' queens during their nuptial flight, to establish the symbiotic association in founding colonies. Other ''Acropyga'' species have relationships with different species of mealybugs, and it could be a trait common to the whole genus.

Description

''Acropyga'' are smaller than , with a compact, stocky body. They have antennae with 10 or 11 segments (including the scape), short palps and reduced eyes with four to 30 individual ommatidia. In some species, the eyes are completely absent.

Distribution

''Acropyga'' is found in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, India to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. ''A. paleartica'' is known only from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

specimens of ''Acropyga '' have been recovered from the

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ...

stage. Dominican amber deposits and several individuals are preserved carrying ''

Electromyrmococcus ''Electromyrmococcus'' is an extinct genus of mealybug in the Pseudococcidae subfamily Rhizoecinae. The genus currently contains three species, all from the early Miocene, Burdigalian stage, Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispanio ...

s. These fossils represent the oldest recorded record of the symbiosis between mealybugs and ''Acropyga'' species ants. They are found in leaf litter and forage on low vegetation, and will nest in various sites, including soil, bark and rotten logs.

Species

*'' Acropyga acutiventris'' Roger, 1862 *'' Acropyga ambigua'' Emery, 1922 *'' Acropyga arnoldi'' Santschi, 1926 *'' Acropyga ayanganna'' LaPolla, 2004 *'' Acropyga bakwele'' LaPolla & Fisher, 2005 *'' Acropyga butteli'' Forel, 1912 *'' Acropyga decedens'' (Mayr, 1887) *'' Acropyga donisthorpei'' Weber, 1944 *'' Acropyga dubia'' Karavaiev, 1933 *'' Acropyga dubitata'' (Wheeler & Mann, 1914) *'' Acropyga epedana'' Snelling, 1973 *'' Acropyga exsanguis'' (Wheeler, 1909) *'' Acropyga fuhrmanni'' (Forel, 1914) *'' Acropyga gelasis'' LaPolla, 2004 *†''

Acropyga glaesaria ''Acropyga glaesaria'' is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Formicinae known from a group of possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. ''A. glaesaria'' is the first species of the ant genus '' Acropyga'' to have been described from ...

'' LaPolla, 2005 *'' Acropyga goeldii'' Forel, 1893 *'' Acropyga guianensis'' Weber, 1944 *'' Acropyga hirsutula'' LaPolla, 2004 *'' Acropyga hystrix'' LaPolla, 2004 *'' Acropyga indosinensis'' Wheeler, 1935 *'' Acropyga inezae'' Forel, 1912 *'' Acropyga keira'' LaPolla, 2004 *'' Acropyga kinomurai'' Terayama & Hashimoto, 1996 *'' Acropyga lauta'' Mann, 1919 *'' Acropyga major'' Donisthorpe, 1949 *'' Acropyga myops'' Forel, 1910 *'' Acropyga nipponensis'' Terayama, 1985 *'' Acropyga oceanica'' Emery, 1900 *'' Acropyga palaga'' LaPolla, 2004 *'' Acropyga paleartica'' Menozzi, 1936 *'' Acropyga pallida'' (Donisthorpe, 1938) *'' Acropyga panamensis'' Weber, 1944 *'' Acropyga parvidens'' (Wheeler & Mann, 1914) *'' Acropyga romeo'' LaPolla, 2004 *'' Acropyga rubescens'' Forel, 1894 *'' Acropyga sauteri'' Forel, 1912 *'' Acropyga silvestrii'' Emery, 1915 *'' Acropyga smithii'' Forel, 1893 *'' Acropyga stenotes'' LaPolla, 2004 Acropyga glaesaria SMFBE457B1 01

*'' Acropyga tricuspis'' LaPolla, 2004 *'' Acropyga yaeyamensis'' Terayama & Hashimoto, 1996 *'' Acropyga yushi'' Terayama, 2009

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1308458 Formicinae Ant genera Extant Burdigalian first appearances Taxa named by Julius Roger

Description

Distribution

Species

References

Further reading

External links