Euprenolepis
| Euprenolepis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Workers of E. procera feeding on a Pleurotus mushroom | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Tribe: | Plagiolepidini |
| Genus: |
Euprenolepis Emery, 1906 |
| Type species | |
|
Prenolepis procera Emery, 1900 |
|
| Diversity | |
| 8 species | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Chapmanella Wheeler, 1930 |
|
Chapmanella Wheeler, 1930
Euprenolepis is a Southeast Asian genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae with eight recognized species.
Euprenolepis is endemic to southeastern Asia. Most species are presently known from Borneo only, but whether or not this reflects biological reality or collecting bias remains unclear.
Euprenolepis was constructed as a subgenus within Prenolepis by Emery (1906), but he later moved the subgenus to Paratrechina (Emery, 1925). When Euprenolepis was raised to full genus level by Brown (1953), he also synonymized Chapmanella with Euprenolepis.
Six diagnostic characters can generally separate Euprenolepis workers from the workers of other formicine genera:
The reduced segmentation in the palps also helps in diagnosing the genus, except Pseudolasius also exhibits palpal segment reduction. With the exception of E. negrosensis, all species appear to have a 3:4 palpal formula. Pseudolasius typically possess two or three labial palpal segments. Euprenolepis is most likely to be confused with Pseudolasius,but with the exception of E. negrosensis, Euprenolepis species have much larger eyes than Pseudolasius species. Additionally, the six characters listed above provide a means to separate the two genera.
E. negrosensis placement within the genus remains somewhat problematic. The species was originally placed in its own genus, Chapmanella, by Wheeler (1930), but overall its general morphology suggests placement in Euprenolepis. However, it is distinctly unlike other species, in that it possesses very small eyes, extreme elongation of the mesosoma, a quadriform basal tooth (although rarely some specimens observed have a basal tooth as in other Euprenolepis species), and a 4:4 palpal formula. This species is at present maintained in Euprenolepis, but this result should be confirmed with molecular data once specimens become available for molecular study.
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Wikipedia