Abstract
The diagnosis of the Formicidae is revised, including five new, unreversed apomorphies, of which one is a unique synapomorphy. The first global male-based key to all subfamilies is provided and illustrated, and all ant subfamilies are diagnosed for males on a global scale for the first time. Three lineages of “basal ants” are assessed in detail: the Amblyoponinae, Leptanillinae, and Martialinae. The males of Martialis heureka (Martialinae) and Apomyrma (Amblyoponinae) are described. The Martialinae and Leptanillinae are diagnosed based on males, and additional diagnostic traits for the male of Amblyoponinae and worker of Martialis are provided. The placement of Scyphodon and Noonilla in the Formicidae and Leptanillinae is confirmed. Morphological characters of the Amblyoponinae, the Leptanillinae, and the Martialinae are contrasted, and potentially homologous apomorphies are signaled.
Highlights
Ants are a globally diverse and dominant lineage of eusocial aculeates
The morphospecies probably differ in morphometrics, wing venation, and genitalic morphology, but these character systems were not evaluated as no physical specimens of other morphospecies were available
Apomyrma is conservatively treated as an amblyoponine here, despite compelling morphological characters suggesting a relationship with the Leptanillinae, Opamyrma, and even Martialis
Summary
Ants are a globally diverse and dominant lineage of eusocial aculeates. As posited by Bolton (1994), “it is a truism that [ants] occupy a position among the terrestrial invertebrates equivalent to that occupied by our species among the vertebrates”. Bolton (1994, 2003) authoritatively diagnosed the family and its subfamilies and provided worker-based keys to the subfamilies and genera (Bolton 1994). The sexual dimorphism of ants (and Hymenoptera in general) renders male-worker associations very challenging to make, and has led to major taxonomic bias. Very little synthetic work has been done on males; bioregional male-based keys to subfamily are available only for North America (Smith 1943), the Palearctic (Western Europe, Bernard 1967; Armenia, Arakelian 1994; European Russia, Arnol’di & Dlussky 1978; southern Siberia, Radchenko 1994; North Korea, Radchenko 2005; there are several European country-specific treatments), Japan (Yoshimura & Onoyama 2002), New Zealand (Brown 1958), and Madagascar (Yoshimura & Fisher 2007).
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