''Royidris'' is a
Malagasy 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 ...
. Described in 2014, the genus contains 15 species endemic to
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
.
Description
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
are known for ''R. admixta'', ''R. diminuta'', ''R. notorthotenes'', ''R. peregrina'', and ''R. shuckardi'', plus two unassociated forms.
Alate
Alate (Latin ''ālātus'', from ''āla'' (“wing”)) is an adjective and noun used in entomology and botany to refer to something that has wings or winglike structures.
In entomology
In entomology, "alate" usually refers to the winged form of ...
when virgin, considerably larger than the worker. Males are known only for ''R. notorthotenes'' and ''R. peregrina''. About the same size as the worker or slightly smaller, much smaller than the queen.
Taxonomy
The species included in this genus exhibit a
habitus that is
convergent on some groups of ''
Monomorium
''Monomorium'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. As of 2013 it contains about 396 species. It is distributed around the world, with many species native to the Old World tropics. It is considered to be "one of the more important grou ...
''. In his study of the
Afrotropical
The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...
members of that genus Bolton (1987) noted two indeterminate Madagascan species which had a high palp formula (5,3), the highest attributed to ''Monomorium'', but did no further analysis of these odd species because the focus of the survey was the extensive Afrotropical fauna. Heterick (2006), in his revision of the Malagasy species of ''Monomorium'', recognised the peculiarity of the high palp formula and utilised it, together with some other characters, to define his ''M. shuckardi'' group, all members of which are now transferred to ''Royidris''. No unambiguous apomorphy can be stated for ''Royidris'', and in fact its habitus is similar to that commonly seen in ''Monomorium''.
Species
;''admixta'' group
*''
Vitsika admixta''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika depilosa''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
;''robertsoni'' group
*''
Vitsika anxietas''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika clarinodis''
(Heterick, 2006)
*''
Vitsika pallida''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika pulchra
''Vitsika'' is a Madagascar, Malagasy genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Described in 2014, the genus contains 14 species.
Description
Ant queen, Queens are known for all species except ''V. obscura''. The queens may be alate or ergatoid ...
''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika robertsoni''
(Heterick, 2006)
;''notorthotenes'' group
*''
Vitsika diminuta''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika etiolata''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika gravipuncta''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika longiseta''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika notorthotenes''
(Heterick, 2006)
*''
Vitsika peregrina
''Vitsika'' is a Malagasy genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Described in 2014, the genus contains 14 species.
Description
Queens are known for all species except ''V. obscura''. The queens may be alate or ergatoid, or both forms may oc ...
''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
*''
Vitsika shuckardi''
(Forel, 1895)
*''
Vitsika singularis''
Bolton & Fisher, 2014
References
*
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17107781
Myrmicinae
Ant genera
Hymenoptera of Africa
Insects of Madagascar
Endemic fauna of Madagascar