Ecitoninae
New World army ants
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close boxCharacteristics
The Ecitoninae are characterized by the following derived traits (Bolton 2003):- Orifices of abdominal spiracles IV-VII directed posteriorly
- Pygidium small or very small, usually merely a narrow U-shaped sclerite
- Male with sharply defined presclerites on abdominal segments IV-VII; abdominal sternite VII hypertrophied; abdominal sternite VIII internalized and bilobate apically
- Male biaculeate hypopygium mostly or entirely exposed
- Basal ring of male genital capsule hypertrophied
References
Bolton, B. 1990b. Army ants reassessed: the phylogeny and classification of the doryline section. Journal of Natural History 24: 1339-1364.
Bolton, B. 1994. Identification Guide to the Ant Genera of the World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bolton, B. 1995. A New General Catalogue of the Ants of the World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. 370 pp. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, Vol. 71. Gainesville, FL.
Brady, S. 2003. Evolution of the army ant syndrome: the origin and long-term evolutionary stasis of a complex of behavioral and reproductive adaptations. PNAS 100(11): 6575-6579.
Gotwald, W. H., Jr. 1979. Phylogenetic implications of army ant zoogeography (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 72 (4): 462-467.
Gotwald, W. H., Jr and A. W. Burdette. 1981. Morphology of the male internal reproductive system in army ants: phylogenetic implications. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 83: 72-92.
Hölldobler, B. and E. O. Wilson. 1990. The Ants. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Perfil'eva, K. S. 2002. Wing venation in army ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and its importance for phylogeny. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 81 (10): 1239-1250.
Wheeler, G. C. & Wheeler, J. 1976. Ant larvae: review and synthesis. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington 74: 1-108.
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- First online 20 March 2004
Citing this page:
Tree of Life Web Project. 2004. Ecitoninae. New World army ants. Version 20 March 2004 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Ecitoninae/22207/2004.03.20 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/