A Phylogenetic Analysis of Ant Morphology (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with Special Reference to the Poneromorph Subfamilies

Efforts to reconstruct the phylogenetic history of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) have been boosted in the last few years by accumulation of comprehensive molecular data sets exploring multiple loci on a wide range of taxa within the family. In contrast, the wealth of morphological information for the group remains scattered across the literature comprising more than a century's worth of taxonomic and anatomical research with little standardization. The present study addresses this problem by providing a synthesis of the external skeletal morphology of ants with special emphasis on the poneromorph subfamilies (Amblyoponinae, Ectatomminae, Heteroponerinae, Paraponerinae, Ponerinae, and Proceratiinae). Particular attention was devoted to documenting and standardizing morphological characters for phylogenetic inference. The morphological analysis was undertaken by constructing a digital atlas of 28 standard views containing 5250 scanning electron micrographs documenting worker ant morphology from which detailed anatomical comparison could be accurately performed. The final matrix describes 139 characters (60% of which are completely new or coded cladistically here for the first time) for 105 terminals representing ∼90% of extant poneromorph genera plus all other extant formicid subfamilies, with the exception of the rare Martilinae, and nonformicid outgroups. This matrix was analyzed with parsimony under both equal weights and implied weights (i.e., where characters are downweighted as a function of their homoplasy). The poneromorph subfamilies form a paraphyletic assemblage with the dorylomorphs, leptanillomorphs, and myrmicomorphs nested inside. All the above subfamilies are in turn reconstructed as nested within a paraphyletic group comprising the formicomophs myrmeciomorphs. These results are in concordance with traditional precladistic views of the subfamily relationships but are markedly different from current estimates based on molecular data.

A Phylogenetic Analysis of Ant Morphology (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with Special Reference to the Poneromorph Subfamilies

Taxonomic overview of the hyperdiverse ant genus Tetramorium Mayr ( Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in India with descriptions and X-ray microtomography of two new species from the Andaman Islands [PeerJ]

Insects, Free Full-Text

Insects, Free Full-Text

Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). - Abstract - Europe PMC

Phylogenetic tree for the subfamilies of Formicidae after Wilson et al.

Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). - Abstract - Europe PMC

List Of Ant Subfamilies: Most Up-to-Date Encyclopedia, News & Reviews

A PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF ANT MORPHOLOGY ( HYMENOPTERA : FORMICIDAE ) WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PONEROMORPH SUBFAMILIES

Next-generation morphological character discovery and evaluation: an X-ray micro-CT enhanced revision of the ant genus Zasphinctus Wheeler (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Dorylinae) in the Afrotropics

Neoponera Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) revisited: 1. The N. laevigata species-group in: Insect Systematics & Evolution Volume 54 Issue 1 (2023)

Modernisation of the Hymenoptera: ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies of the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of western North America, The Canadian Entomologist

The feeding apparatus of ants: an overview of structure and function Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The poneromorph ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae: Amblyoponinae, Ectatomminae, Ponerinae) of Grube Messel, Germany: high biodiversity in the Eocene: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology: Vol 10, No 4