Romblonella
Encyclopedia
Romblonella is a genus
of myrmicine
ant
s.
. Closely related genera are Leptothorax
Mayr and Cardiocondyla
Emery.
, Philippines, by Wheeler (1935). 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
.
R. elysii workers are 2 mm long. They were originally described as Crematogaster
from a few workers from the Solomon Islands
. R. heatwolei workers are almost 4 mm long.
Only for R. palauensis and R. heatwolei have males been described.
south through New Guinea
, with one species known from Australia
. The distribution stretches to the islands of the western South Pacific
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of myrmicine
Myrmicinae
Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants. There are about 140 genera within the group, with the family being cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes...
ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s.
Systematics
Romblonella is probably the sister taxon to StereomyrmexStereomyrmex
Stereomyrmex is a genus of myrmicine ants. Two of the described species are known from only a single worker, making this one of the rarest groups of ants in the world.-Biology:...
. Closely related genera are Leptothorax
Leptothorax
Leptothorax is a large genus of small ants with mainly Holarctic distribution. The genus is notable for its widespread social parasitism, i.e. they are dependent on the help of workers from other ant species during a part or the whole of their life cycles...
Mayr and Cardiocondyla
Cardiocondyla
Cardiocondyla is an ant genus in the family Formicidae.Closely related genera are Leptothorax, Stereomyrmex and Romblonella.-Species:* C. atalanta* C. batesii* C. bicoronata* C. brachyceps* C. breviscapus...
Emery.
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.Description
Workers of R. opaca are about 4 mm long. They have a small sting. R. opaca was described from four specimens found on Romblon IslandRomblon Island
Romblon is one of the three major islands of the Romblon Province in the Philippines; the other two are Sibuyan Island and Tablas Island. The island is part of the seat of government for the Romblon province, also named Romblon municipality....
, Philippines, by Wheeler (1935). However, the species had already been described by F. Smith
Frederick Smith (entomologist)
Frederick Smith was a British entomologist.Smith worked in the zoology department of the British Museum from 1849, specialising in the Hymenoptera. In 1875 he was promoted to Assistant Keeper of Zoology...
in 1861 as Myrmica opaca, which had been collected at Tondano
Mount Tondano
Mount Tondano in the province of North Sulawesi, Sulawesi, Indonesia, contains 20 × 30 km wide of Quaternary caldera. Pyroclastic cones, obsidian flows and geothermal areas are observed in the caldera area. The Lake Tondano lies in the east side of the caldera....
, Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
by Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
.
R. elysii workers are 2 mm long. They were originally described as Crematogaster
Crematogaster
Crematogaster is an ecologically diverse genus of ants found worldwide, which are characterised by a distinctive heart-shaped gaster , which gives one of their common names, Valentine Ant. It is the only genus of the tribus Crematogastrini. Most of species are arboreal...
from a few workers from the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. R. heatwolei workers are almost 4 mm long.
Only for R. palauensis and R. heatwolei have males been described.
Distribution
Romblonella is found from the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
south through New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, with one species known from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The distribution stretches to the islands of the western South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
.
Species
- Romblonella elysii (Mann, 1919) — Malapina, Big NggelaFlorida IslandsThe Nggela Islands, also known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of the Solomon Islands, a state in the southwest Pacific Ocean....
: Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal... - Romblonella heatwolei Taylor, 1991 — Wyer Island: Torres StraitTorres StraitThe Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...
: QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
: Australia - Romblonella opaca (F. Smith, 1861) — Philippines, Indonesia
- Romblonella palauensis M. R. Smith, 1953 — Auluptagel, Urukthapal, Babelthaub: PalauPalauPalau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
: Caroline IslandsCaroline IslandsThe Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end... - Romblonella scrobifera (EmeryCarlo EmeryCarlo Emery was an Italian entomologist.Born in Naples, Carlo Emery was professor of Zoology at the University of Bologna. He later worked in Geneva...
, 1897) — AitapeAitapeAitape is a small town of about 8,000 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun Province. It is a coastal settlement that is almost equidistant from the provincial capitals of Wewak and Vanimo, and marks the midpoint of the highway between these two capitals...
, Manus ProvinceManus ProvinceManus Province is the smallest province in Papua New Guinea with a land area of 2,100 km², but with more than 220,000 km² of water. The capital of the province is Lorengau and the total population is 43,387 ....
, East Sepik Province, Morobe ProvinceMorobe ProvinceMorobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital, and largest city, is Lae. The province covers 34,500 km², including 719 km² maritime area, with a population of 539,725...
, East New Britain Province: New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... - Romblonella townesi M. R. Smith, 1953 — Mount Lasso: Tinian Island: Northern Mariana IslandsNorthern Mariana IslandsThe Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
- Romblonella vitiensis M. R. Smith, 1953 — Wakaya Island: Fiji Islands
- Romblonella yapensis M. R. Smith, 1953 — Yap Island: Caroline Islands