Simopone

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Simopone
Simopone emeryi worker from Madagascar
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dorylinae
Genus: Simopone
Forel, 1891
Type species
Simopone grandidieri
Forel, 1891
Diversity[1]
38 species

Simopone is a genus of predominantly arboreal ants in the subfamily Dorylinae.[2] The genus is widely distributed in the Old World tropics, with the majority of species in Madagascar and sub-Saharan Africa.[3]

Taxonomy[edit]

The genus was first described by Forel (1891), based on a Simopone grandidier specimen.[4] Brown (1975) revised the genus and recognized 13 species altogether. The number of species was raised to 15 by Kutter (1976, 1977) and to 38 by Bolton & Fisher (2012). Bolton & Fisher considered one of the African species described by Brown (1975), S. conciliatrix, so different from all the others in the genus that it is transferred to its own monotypic genus, Vicinopone.[5]

Description[edit]

Simopone species are almost entirely arboreal, but on occasion foraging workers are found on the ground or in rotten logs. Prey records are extremely sparse for this genus, consisting only of Crematogaster brood by S. vepres, and the brood of Terataner by S. sicaria. Nevertheless, these two records support the general supposition by Brown (1975) that most or all members of tribe Cerapachyini prey on other ants, or more probably the brood of other ants, but actual records are extremely rare.[5]

Known queens are entirely worker-like except that the mesosoma has a full complement of flight sclerites. No queen recognizable by external morphology has been seen in any Malagasy species, the queens of which are suspected to be remarkably ergatoid, or perhaps even replaced by gamergates.[6] Workers of most (perhaps all) species exhibit considerable size variation.[7]

Species[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bolton, B. (2014). "Simopone". AntCat. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Genus: Simopone". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  3. ^ Bolton & Fisher 2012, p. 4
  4. ^ Forel 1891, pp. 139–142
  5. ^ a b Bolton & Fisher 2012, p. 5
  6. ^ Bolton & Fisher 2012, p. 11
  7. ^ Bolton & Fisher 2012, p. 8
  • This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Bolton, Barry; Fisher, Brian L. (2012), "Taxonomy of the cerapachyine ant genera Simopone Forel, Vicinopone gen. n. and Tanipone gen. n. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." (PDF), Zootaxa, 3283: 1–101, doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3283.1.1 Please check the source for the exact licensing terms.
  • Brown, W.L., Jr. (1975) Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. 5. Ponerinae, tribes Platythyreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search Agriculture 5, Entomology (Ithaca) 15, 1–115.
  • Forel, A. (1891), "(fascicule 28). Les Formicides", in Grandidier, A. (ed.), Histoire naturelle des Hyménoptères. 2, Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de Madagascar, vol. 20, Paris, pp. 1–231{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Kutter, H. (1976) Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Gattung Simopone Forel. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 49, 273–276.
  • Kutter, H. (1977) Zweiter Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Gattung Simopone Forel. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 50, 173–176.

External links[edit]

  • Media related to Simopone at Wikimedia Commons
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