Aenictoteratini

Aenictoteratini
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Staphyliniformia
Family: Staphylinidae
Subfamily: Aleocharinae
Tribe: Aenictoteratini
Kistner, 1993
Genera
[1]
Synonyms

Aenictobiini

Aenictoteratini is a myrmecophilous tribe of rove beetles in the subfamily Aleocharinae which contains 10 genera, 7 of which are monotypic.[1] In total, there are 17 species currently listed as Aenictoteratini.[1]

Distribution

Most Aenictoteratini genera are found in East Asia, specifically China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, while Weiria australis (Ashe, 2003) is the only species known from Australia.[2] All species are found inside of nests of the ant genus Aenictus.[3]

Description

Members of this tribe are highly adapted to life among ants, with body shapes resembling those of their hosts.[3]

Taxonomy

Many genera placed in Aenictoteratini when the tribe was created in 1993 have subsequently been moved to the Myrmedoniina, a subtribe of Lomechusini, after phylogenetic analyses revealed that the group was not monophyletic.[3][2][4] Many of the characteristics first used to define the tribe, such as an antlike "pseudo-gaster" narrowed abdomen, can be found in other lineages of myrmecophilous Aleocharinae that resemble ants, making this a case of convergent evolution.[3][2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Aenictoteratini Kistner, 1993 | COL".
  2. ^ a b c Orlov, Igor; Newton, Alfred F.; Solodovnikov, Alexey (November 8, 2021). "Phylogenetic review of the tribal system of Aleocharinae, a mega-lineage of terrestrial arthropods in need of reclassification". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 59 (8): 1903–1938. doi:10.1111/jzs.12524. S2CID 239071401.
  3. ^ a b c d "Giraffaenictus eguchii (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), a New Genus and Species of Fully Myrmecoid Myrmecophile from a Colony of Aenictus binghami (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Aenictinae) in Vietnam | Collections | Kyushu University Library". hdl:2324/12497.
  4. ^ a b Maruyama, Munetoshi; Parker, Joseph (March 2017). "Deep-Time Convergence in Rove Beetle Symbionts of Army Ants". Current Biology. 27 (6): 920–926. Bibcode:2017CBio...27..920M. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.030. PMID 28285995. S2CID 3982685.