''Anoplolepis'', also known as the "pugnacious ants", is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,0 ...

s in the subfamily

Formicinae The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development. Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and littl ...

and tribe

Lasiini Lasiini is a tribe of ants in the family Formicidae. There are about 10 genera and more than 450 described species in Lasiini. Genera These genera belong to the tribe Lasiini: * ''Acanthomyops'' Mayr, 1862 * ''Anoplolepis'' Santschi, 1914 * '' ...

. The genus is mainly found in the

Afrotropics The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islan ...

, with a few native species known from the

Malagasy Malagasy may refer to: *Someone or something from Madagascar *Malagasy people *Malagasy language *Malagasy Republic *Related to the culture of Madagascar See also *Madagascar (disambiguation) Madagascar is an island country located off the east ...

and

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

regions (and some introduced in other places). A pugnacious ant (Anoplolepis) captured in India

Species

*'' Anoplolepis carinata'' (Emery, 1899) *''

Anoplolepis custodiens ''Anoplolepis custodiens'', commonly known as the common pugnacious ant, is a species of ant in the genus ''Anoplolepis'', native to central and southern Africa. Individual ants may come in a range of colors and sizes. Found in dry and cultivated ...

'' (Smith, 1858) *'' Anoplolepis fallax'' (Mayr, 1865) *''

Anoplolepis gracilipes ''Anoplolepis'', also known as the "pugnacious ants", is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae and tribe Lasiini. The genus is mainly found in the Afrotropics, with a few native species known from the Malagasy and Oriental The Orien ...

'' (Smith, 1857) *'' Anoplolepis nuptialis'' (Santschi, 1917) *'' Anoplolepis opaciventris'' (Emery, 1899) *''

Anoplolepis rufescens ''Anoplolepis'', also known as the "pugnacious ants", is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae and tribe Lasiini. The genus is mainly found in the Afrotropics, with a few native species known from the Madagascar, Malagasy and Indomalayan re ...

'' (Santschi, 1917) *'' Anoplolepis steingroeveri'' (Forel, 1894) *'' Anoplolepis tenella'' (Santschi, 1911)

References

External links

* Formicinae Ant genera Taxa named by Felix Santschi Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{formicinae-stub