Acropyga

Taxobox
name = "Acropyga"


image_caption = "A. berwicki" worker
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Formicidae
subfamilia = Formicinae
tribus =
genus = "Acropyga"
genus_authority = Roger, 1862
type_species =
type_species_authority =
diversity_link = Acropyga
diversity = > 60 species
range_

range_map_width = 250px
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.

"Acropyga" is a genus of small formicine ants.

Some species can be indirect pests. "A. acutiventris", which is found from India to Australia, tends subterranean, root-feeding mealybugs of the species "Xenococcus annandalei". Living, gravid females are carried in the jaws of "A. acutiventris" queens during their nuptial flight, to establish the symbiotic association in founding colonies. Other "Acropyga" species have relationships with different species of mealybugs, and it could be a trait common to the whole genus.Taylor 1992]

Description

"Acropyga" are smaller than 3.5 mm, with a compact, stocky body. They have antennae with 10 or 11 segments (including the scape), short palps and reduced eyes with four to 30 individual ommatidia. In some species the eyes are completely absent.Australian Ants Online]

Distribution

"Acropyga" is found in the Americas, southern Africa, India to Southeast Asia and Australia. "A. palearctica" is known only from Greece.

pecies

References

* ITIS: [http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=573948 Genus "Acropyga"]
* Australian Ants Online: [http://www.ento.csiro.au/science/ants/formicinae/acropyga/acropyga.htm Genus "Acropyga"]
* (1992): Nomenclature and distribution of some Australian and New Guinean Ants of the subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). "J. Aust. ent. Soc." 31: 57-69. [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1992.tb00458.x PDF]

Further reading

* (1935): Ants of the genus "Acropyga" Roger, with description of a new species. "Journal of the New York Entomological Society" 43: 321-329. [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/social_insects/ants/publications/3445/3445.pdf PDF]
* (2005)): A Remarkable New Species of "Acropyga" (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Gabon, with a Key to the Afrotropical Species. "Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences" 56(30): 601-605. [http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21150/21150.pdf PDF]

External links

* myrmecos.net: [http://www.myrmecos.net/formicinae/Acropyga3.html "A. acutiventris" carrying a mealybug]