Romblonella

Romblonella
R. opaca worker
Scientific classification
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

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

Biology

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
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

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.

Name

The genus is named after the locality where the type species was found.

Species

Images
  • Specimen of a Romblonella opaca
  • Specimen of a Romblonella palauensis
  • Specimen of a Romblonella scrobifera

Footnotes
  1. Bolton, B. (2014). "Romblonella". AntCat. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. 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
  • 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
  • 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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