Acropyga

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Hymenopterida
Ordo: Hymenoptera
Subordo: Apocrita
Superfamilia: Formicoidea

Familia:Formicidae
Subfamilia: Formicinae
Tribus: Lasiini
Genus: Acropyga
Species (56): A. acutiventris – A. ambigua – A. amblyops – A. arnoldi – A. baodaoensis – A. berwicki – A. borgmeieri – A. bruchi – A. butteli – A. crassicornis – A. decedens – A. distinguenda – A. dodo – A. donisthorpei – A. dubia – A. dubitata – A. emeryi – A. epedana – A. exsanguis – A. fuhrmanni – A. goeldii – A. guianensis – A. indistincta – A. indosinensis – A. inezae – A. jiangxiensis – A. kathrynae – A. lauta – A. major – A. marshalli – A. meermohri – A. mesonotalis – A. moluccana – A. myops – A. nipponensis – A. oceanica – A. oko – A. pachycera – A. paleartica – A. pallida – A. paludis – A. panamensis – A. paramaribensis – A. parvidens – A. pickeli – A. quadriceps – A. robae – A. rutgersi – A. sauteri – A. silvestrii – A. smithii – A. termitobia – A. trinitatis – A. undecema – A. urichi – A. wheeleri

[Source: Catalogue of Life: 2014 Annual Checklist]

Add (11): A. ayanganna – A. bakwele – A. gelasis – A. hirsutula – A. hystrix – A. keira – A. palaga – A. romeo – A. stenotes – A. tricuspis – A. yushi
Name

Acropyga Roger, 1862: Berl. ent. Z., 6, 242.
References

LaPolla, J.S. 2004. Acropyga (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the world. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute 33(3): 1–130. Reference page.
LaPolla, J.S. et al. 2006. Phylogenetic position of the ant genus Acropyga Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the evolution of trophophoresy. Insect systematics & evolution 37(2): 197–212. DOI: 10.1163/187631206788831083 Reference page.
Terayama, M. 1985. Two new species of the genus Acropyga (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Taiwan and Japan. Kontyû 53(2): 284-289. Abstract and full article (PDF) on CiNii Reference page.

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.[3]
Contents

1 Description
2 Distribution
3 Species
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

Description

Acropyga are smaller than 3.5 millimetres (0.14 in), 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.[4]
Distribution

Acropyga is found in the Americas, southern Africa, India to Southeast Asia and Australia. A. palearctica is known only from Greece. Fossil specimens of Acropyga have been recovered from the Burdigalian stage. Dominican amber deposits and several individuals are preserved carrying Electromyrmococcus mealybugs.[5] These fossils represent the oldest recorded record of the symbiosis between mealybugs and Acropyga species ants.[5] They are found in leaf litter and forage on low vegetation, and will nest in various sites, including soil, bark and rotten logs.[4]
Species

Acropyga acutiventris Roger, 1862
Acropyga ambigua Emery, 1922
Acropyga arnoldi Santschi, 1926
Acropyga ayanganna LaPolla, 2004
Acropyga bakwele LaPolla & Fisher, 2005
Acropyga butteli Forel, 1912
Acropyga decedens (Mayr, 1887)
Acropyga donisthorpei Weber, 1944
Acropyga dubia Karavaiev, 1933
Acropyga dubitata (Wheeler & Mann, 1914)
Acropyga epedana Snelling, 1973
Acropyga exsanguis (Wheeler, 1909)
Acropyga fuhrmanni (Forel, 1914)
Acropyga gelasis LaPolla, 2004
†Acropyga glaesaria LaPolla, 2005
Acropyga goeldii Forel, 1893
Acropyga guianensis Weber, 1944
Acropyga hirsutula LaPolla, 2004
Acropyga hystrix LaPolla, 2004
Acropyga indosinensis Wheeler, 1935
Acropyga inezae Forel, 1912
Acropyga keira LaPolla, 2004
Acropyga kinomurai Terayama & Hashimoto, 1996
Acropyga lauta Mann, 1919
Acropyga major Donisthorpe, 1949
Acropyga myops Forel, 1910
Acropyga nipponensis Terayama, 1985
Acropyga oceanica Emery, 1900
Acropyga palaga LaPolla, 2004
Acropyga paleartica Menozzi, 1936
Acropyga pallida (Donisthorpe, 1938)
Acropyga panamensis Weber, 1944
Acropyga parvidens (Wheeler & Mann, 1914)
Acropyga romeo LaPolla, 2004
Acropyga rubescens Forel, 1894
Acropyga sauteri Forel, 1912
Acropyga silvestrii Emery, 1915
Acropyga smithii Forel, 1893
Acropyga stenotes LaPolla, 2004

References

"Acropyga Roger, 1862". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
Bolton, B. (2014). "Acropyga". AntCat. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
Robert W. Taylor (1992). "Nomenclature and distribution of some Australian and New Guinean ants of the subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". Journal of the Australian Entomological Society. 31 (1): 57–69. doi:10.1111/j.1440-6055.1992.tb00458.x.
S. O. Shattuck; N. J. Barnet. "Genus Acropyga". Australian Ants Online. CSIRO. Archived from the original on July 21, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2013.

Christine Johnson; Donat Agosti; Jacques H. Delabie; Klaus Dumpert; D. J. Williams; Michael von Tschirnhaus; Ulrich Maschwitz (2001). "Acropyga and Azteca ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with scale insects (Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea): 20 million years of intimate symbiosis". American Museum Novitates (3335): 1–18. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2001)335<0001:AAAAHF>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 55067700.

Further reading
Wheeler, W. M. (1935). "Ants of the genus Acropyga Roger, with description of a new species" (PDF). Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 43: 321–329.
LaPolla, J. S.; Fisher, B. L. (2005). "A Remarkable New Species of Acropyga (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Gabon, with a Key to the Afrotropical Species" (PDF). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 56 (30): 601–605.
LaPolla, J. S. (2004). "Acropyga (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the World". Contributions of the American Entomological Institute. 33 (3): 1–130.