''Royidris'' is a
Malagasy 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 ...
of
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 Myrmicinae
Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent an ...
. Described in 2014, the genus contains 15 species endemic to
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.
Description
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
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 o ...
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
Habitus may refer to:
* Habitus (biology), a term commonly used in biology as being less ambiguous than "habit"
* Habitus (sociology), embodied dispositions or tendencies that organize how people perceive and respond to the world around them
* ' ...
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 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 island ...
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''
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''
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