''Lasiophanes'' is a small

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 ...

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 ...

with six described species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

(

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

). The genus is related to ''

Lasius ''Lasius'' is a genus of formicine ants. The type species for this genus is the black garden ant, '' Lasius niger''. Other major members, which live in drier heathland, are the cornfield ant, '' L. neoniger'', and '' L. alienus''. Other species ...

'' of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

and ''

Melophorus ''Melophorus'' (meaning "honey carrier") is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. The genus is endemic to Australia, where its species are common in arid and semiarid areas. Species *''Melophorus aeneovirens'' (Lowne, 1865) *''Melophoru ...

'' of

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 ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Little is known about these species and the

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of ''Lasiophanes'' is poorly understood.

Species

*'' Lasiophanes atriventris'' (Smith, 1858) *'' Lasiophanes hoffmanni'' (Forel, 1903) *''

Lasiophanes perplexus ''Lasiophanes'' is a small genus of ant with six described species endemic to Patagonia (Argentina and Chile). The genus is related to ''Lasius'' of the Northern Hemisphere and ''Melophorus'' of Australia and New Zealand. Little is known about t ...

'' (Santschi, 1920) *'' Lasiophanes picinus'' (Roger, 1863) *'' Lasiophanes strenua'' (Haliday, 1836) *'' Lasiophanes valdiviensis'' (Forel, 1904)

Habitat and distribution

''L. atriventris'' has arboreal habits, living and nesting on trees. On the other hand, ''L. picinus'' and ''L. valdiviensis'' are terrestrial species and have almost the same geographical distribution. The species have been found at

Neuquén Neuquén (; ) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers which form t ...

, Río Negro,

Chubut Chubut may refer to: * Chubut Province Chubut ( from Tehuelche language, Tehuelche 'transparent'; ) is a provinces of Argentina, province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), ...

and Santa Cruz provinces but only ''L. picinus'' reaches the southern tip of

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

. Despite the similarity in their geographical ranges, patterns of habitat use are thought to be different. ''L. picinus'' lives in humid areas of western Patagonia but it can penetrate more arid areas following the vegetation that grows along the rivers or where subterranean water makes the soil more humid. ''L. valdiviensis'' in turn, lives in more arid areas in the eastern part of the genus distribution. However, within the arid areas ''L. valdiviensis'' is thought to prefer sites with relatively humid soils.

References

External links

* Formicinae Ant genera Hymenoptera of South America {{formicinae-stub