''Leptanilla'' 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 ...

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 ...

in the subfamily

Leptanillinae Leptanillinae is a subfamily of primitive 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 ...

. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the

hemolymph Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, similar to the blood in invertebrates, that circulates in the inside of the arthropod's body, remaining in direct contact with the animal's tissues. It is composed of a fluid plasma in which hemolymph c ...

of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose.Genus ''Leptanilla''
Australian Ants Online

Biology

Some species form colonies consisting of several hundred workers in the soil. They feed on small

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s, including

centipede Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, ...

s, and are rarely seen because they live underground and rarely come to the surface. In some species the queen is wingless, and new colonies form by budding from established colonies. Others have a nomadic life-style resembling that of

army ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited ...

Description

''Leptanilla'' workers have no eyes, and are pale, yellow, and small.

Distribution

Several species are found in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, ''L. doderoi'' and ''L. revelierei'' in

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, ''L. havilandi'' and ''L. butteli'' in the Malay Peninsula, ''L. santschii'' in Java. (1932): An Australian ''Leptanilla''. ''

Psyche Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" ( ψυχή). Psyche or La Psyché may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unc ...

'' 39: 53-58
PDF
/ref> ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' are the only two

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 ...

n species that have been described.

Species

*'' Leptanilla africana'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla alexandri'' Dlussky, 1969 *'' Leptanilla astylina'' Petersen, 1968 *'' Leptanilla australis'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla besucheti ''Leptanilla besucheti'' is a species of ant. It is found in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Oce ...

'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla bifurcata'' Kugler, 1987 *'' Leptanilla boltoni'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla buddhista'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla butteli ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Forel, 1913 —

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

*''

Leptanilla charonea ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Barandica, López, Martínez & Ortuño, 1994 *''

Leptanilla clypeata ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Yamane & Ito, 2001 *''

Leptanilla doderoi ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Emery, 1915 — Corsica, Sardinia *''

Leptanilla escheri ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' (Kutter, 1948) *''

Leptanilla exigua ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Santschi, 1908 — North Africa *''

Leptanilla havilandi ''Leptanilla havilandi'' is a species of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. The species can be found in Singapore and Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasi ...

'' Forel, 1901 — Malay Peninsula *''

Leptanilla hunanensis ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Tang, Li & Chen, 1992 *''

Leptanilla hypodracos ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Wong & Guénard, 2016Zoo Bank
/ref> *''

Leptanilla islamica ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla israelis'' Kugler, 1987 *'' Leptanilla japonica'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla judaica'' Kugler, 1987 *'' Leptanilla kebunraya'' Yamane & Ito, 2001 *'' Leptanilla kubotai'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla kunmingensis'' Xu & Zhang, 2002 *'' Leptanilla lamellata'' Bharti & Kumar, 2012 *'' Leptanilla macauensis'' Leong, Yamane & Guénard, 2018 — Macau *'' Leptanilla minuscula'' Santschi, 1907 — North Africa *'' Leptanilla morimotoi'' Yasumatsu, 1960 *'' Leptanilla nana'' Santschi, 1915 — North Africa *'' Leptanilla oceanica'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla ortunoi'' López, Martínez & Barandica, 1994 *'' Leptanilla palauensis'' (Smith, 1953) *'' Leptanilla plutonia'' López, Martínez & Barandica, 1994 *'' Leptanilla poggii'' Mei, 1995 *'' Leptanilla revelierii'' Emery, 1870 — Corsica, Sardinia,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

*'' Leptanilla santschii'' Wheeler & Wheeler, 1930 —

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

*'' Leptanilla swani'' Wheeler, 1932 —

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

*'' Leptanilla taiwanensis'' Ogata, Terayama & Masuko, 1995 *'' Leptanilla tanakai'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *''

Leptanilla tanit ''Leptanilla'' is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose. ''L. swani'' and ''L. voldemort'' ...

'' Santschi, 1907 *'' Leptanilla tenuis'' Santschi, 1907 — North Africa *'' Leptanilla thai'' Baroni Urbani, 1977 *'' Leptanilla theryi'' Forel, 1903 — North Africa *'' Leptanilla vaucheri'' Emery, 1899 — North Africa *''

Leptanilla voldemort ''Leptanilla voldemort'' is a species of ant in the genus ''Leptanilla'' and was described in 2024. It was named after the Harry Potter villain, Lord Voldemort. This species was found in the Pilbara region in the Western Australian outback. Thi ...

'' Wong et al, 2024 — Western Australia *'' Leptanilla yunnanensis'' Xu, 2002 *'' Leptanilla zaballosi'' Barandica, López, Martínez & Ortuño, 1994

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1375333 Leptanillinae Ant genera Taxa named by Carlo Emery