''Dicroaspis'' is an African
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
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 in the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Myrmicinae
Myrmicinae is a subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily ...
.
Distribution
Known from central Africa, the genus contains two species. However, due to the little material available, they may represent variations the same species.
A third hitherto undescribed species is known from
Kakamega Forest
Kakamega Forest is a tropical rainforest situated in the Kakamega County, Kakamega, Vihiga County, Vihiga, and Nandi_County, Nandi
counties of Kenya, northwest of the capital Nairobi, and near the border with Uganda. It is Kenya's only tropical r ...
,
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
.
Description
The genus was first described by
Emery (1908), but was reclassified a few years later as a
subgenus
In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
of ''
Calyptomyrmex
''Calyptomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. The genus is distributed from Africa to India and east to New Caledonia. They are mainly found in the rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and conti ...
'' by Emery (1915). The
taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
was finally raised to genus rank by Bolton (1981). Workers are about 2.5–3 mm long and have small eyes. Their
antennae with 11 segments can be used to separate ''Dicroaspis'' from the related and similar genus ''Calyptomyrmex''.
Little is known about their biology, but they appear to live in the
leaf litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...
of
rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
s.
Species
* ''
Dicroaspis cryptocera''
Emery, 1908
* ''
Dicroaspis laevidens''
( Santschi, 1919)
References
*Emery, C. (1908). "Descriptions d'une genre nouveau et de plusieurs formes nouvelles de fourmis du Congo". ''Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique'' 52: 184–189.
*Emery, C. (1915). "Formiche raccolte nell'Eritrea dal Prof. F. Silvestri". ''Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici'' 10: 3-26.
External links
*
Myrmicinae
Ant genera
Hymenoptera of Africa
Taxa named by Carlo Emery
{{myrmicinae-stub