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Formicinae

{{short description|Subfamily of ants}}

{{distinguish|text=the extinct Formicidae subfamily Formiciinae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Camponotus fellah MHNT.jpg

| image_caption = Camponotus fellah

|fossil_range={{fossil_range|Turonian|Recent|ref={{cite journal|last1=Grimaldi|first1=D.|last2=Agosti|first2=D.|title=A formicine in New Jersey Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and early evolution of the ants|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=2000|volume=97|issue=25|pages=13678–13683|bibcode=2000PNAS...9713678G|doi=10.1073/pnas.240452097|pmid=11078527|pmc=17635|doi-access=free}}}}

| taxon = Formicinae

| authority = Lepeletier, 1836

| subdivision_ranks =

| subdivision =

| type_genus = Formica

| type_genus_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

| diversity = 51 extant genera in 12 tribes

| diversity_link = #Tribes and genera

}}

File:Carpenter ant Tanzania crop.jpg sp.)]]

The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development.

Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and little tendency toward reduction of palp or antennal segmentation in most species, except subterranean groups. Extreme modification of mandibles is rare, except in the genera Myrmoteras and Polyergus. However, some members show considerable evolutionary advancement in behaviors such as slave-making and symbiosis with root-feeding hemipterans. Finally, all formicines have very reduced stings and enlarged venom reservoirs, with the venom gland, specialized (uniquely among ants) for the production of formic acid.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

All members of the Formicinae "have a one-segmented petiole in the form of a vertical scale".{{cite book|author=Klotz, John H.|chapter=Formicinae|title=Urban ants of North America and Europe: identification, biology, and management|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8014-7473-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7T4gg6j7xUC&pg=PA11}}

Identification

Formicine ants have a single node-like or scale-like petiole (postpetiole entirely lacking) and the apex of the abdomen has a circular or U-shaped opening (the acidopore), usually fringed with hairs. A functional sting is absent, and defense is provided by the ejection of formic acid through the acidopore. If the acidopore is concealed by the pygidium and difficult to discern, then the antennal sockets are located well behind the posterior margin of the clypeus (cf. Dolichoderinae). In most formicines, the eyes are well developed (ocelli may also be present), the antennal insertions are not concealed by the frontal carinae, and the promesonotal suture is present and flexible.{{cite web |url=http://www.antweb.org//description.do?name=formicinae&rank=subfamily&project=allantwebants |title=Subfamily: Formicinae |website=antweb.org |publisher=AntWeb |access-date=21 September 2013}}

Tribes and genera

The tribal structure of the Formicinae is not completely understood. This list follows the scheme at AntCat,{{Citation| last = Bolton| first = B. | author-link = Barry Bolton| date = 2013| title = An online catalog of the ants of the world.| url = http://antcat.org| access-date = 17 October 2023| work = AntCat}} but other schemes and names are used.

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}

| last1 = Ward | first1 = Philip S.

| last2 = Blaimer | first2 = Bonnie B.

| last3 = Fisher | first3 = Brian L.

| date = 2016

| title = A revised phylogenetic classification of the ant subfamily Formicinae(Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with resurrection of the genera Colobopsis and Dinomyrmex

| journal = Zootaxa

| publisher = Magnolia Press

| volume = 4072

| issue = 3

| doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.4072.3.4

| doi-access = free

| pmid = 27395929

| pages = 343–57

}}

| last1 = Christopher M. Wilson

| last2 = Autumn Smith-Herron

| date = 2016

| title = Morphology of the male genitalia of Brachymyrmex and their implications in the Formicinae phylogeny

| journal = Journal of Hymenoptera Research

| publisher = Pensoft Publishers

| volume = 50

| pages = 81–95

| issn = 1070-9428

| doi = 10.3897/JHR.50.8697

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite web

| access-date = 2018-03-10

| title = AntWeb

| url = https://www.antweb.org

| publisher = California Academy of Sciences

}}

{{div col end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{Commons category-inline|Formicinae}}
  • {{Wikispecies-inline|Formicinae}}

{{Formicidae subfamilies}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q119691}}

Category:Ant subfamilies

Category:Taxa named by Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier

Category:Extant Turonian first appearances