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Romblonella

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Romblonella
Romblonella opaca worker
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Romblonella
Wheeler, 1935
Type species
Rombonella grandinodis
Wheeler, 1935
Diversity[1]
8 species

Romblonella is a genus of myrmicine ants.

Systematics

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Romblonella is probably the sister taxon to Stereomyrmex. Closely related genera are Leptothorax and Cardiocondyla.[2]

Biology

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Very little is known about these uncommon ants. Most species were found to nest in twigs on trees and to forage on low vegetation.[3]

Description

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R. opaca: a) lateral view; b) head, dorsal view; c) thorax and petiole, dorsal view

Workers of R. opaca are about 4 mm long. They have a small sting. R. opaca was described from four specimens found on Romblon Island, Philippines, by Wheeler (1935).[4] However, the species had already been described by F. Smith in 1861 as Myrmica opaca, which had been collected at Tondano, Sulawesi by Alfred Russel Wallace.[5]

R. elysii workers are 2 mm long. They were originally described as Crematogaster from a few workers from the Solomon Islands.[6] R. heatwolei workers are almost 4 mm long.[2]

Only for R. palauensis and R. heatwolei have males been described.[2]

Distribution

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Romblonella is found from the Philippines south through New Guinea, with one species known from Australia. The distribution stretches to the islands of the western South Pacific.[citation needed]

Name

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The genus is named after the locality where the type species was found.[citation needed]

Species

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Images

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Bolton, B. (2014). "Romblonella". AntCat. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Taylor, Robert W. (1991): Notes on the ant genera Romblonella and Willowsiella, with comments on their affinities, and the first descriptions of Australian species. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Psyche 97: 281-298. PDF
  3. ^ Australian Ants Online: Genus Romblonella
  4. ^ Wheeler, William M. (1935): Two new genera of myrmicine ants from Papua and the Philippines. Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club 15: 1-9. PDF
  5. ^ Smith 1861: 47
  6. ^ Mann 1919: 319
  7. ^ length c. 3 mm, as Tetramorium scrobiferum, Emery 1897: 587

References

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  • Emery, Carlo (1897): Formicidarum species novae vel minus cognitae in collectione Musaei Nationalis Hungarici, quas in Nova Guinea, colonia germanica, collegit L. Biro. Termeszetrajzi Fuzetek 20: 571-599. PDF
  • Mann, William M. (1919): The ants of the British Solomon Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard College 63: 273-391. PDF
  • Smith, Frederick (1861): Catalogue of hymenopterous insects collected by Mr. A. R. Wallace in the Islands of Ceram, Celebes, Ternate, and Gilolo. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 6: 36-48. PDF
  • ITIS: Genus Romblonella

Further reading

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  • Smith, Marion R. (1953): A revision of the genus Romblonella W. M. Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 15: 75-80. PDF
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