Aphaenogaster is a genus

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. Almost 200 species have been described, and 11 fossil species are known. They occur worldwide except from South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

.

They are often confused with Pheidole

Pheidole

Pheidole is a genus of ant that belongs to the ant subfamily Myrmicinae.-The Genus:The genus Pheidole is widespread and ecologically dominant...

or Pheidologeton

Pheidologeton

Pheidologeton is a genus of ants, also called marauder ants, due to their raids similar to those of army ants. Their nests are more permanent but almost as large as those of army ants...

. These two have major and minor workers, while Aphaenogaster has only a single worker caste. Pheidole has a 3-segmented club on its antenna, while Aphaenogaster has four segments and a larger body size. Pheidologeton has a 11-segmented antenna, while the antenna in Aphaenogaster is 12-segmented.

In Australia, they often build dense, conspicuous nests. Nest entrances are generally funnel-shaped with diameters of up to 4 cm, which resulted in the common name funnel ants. These nests can be a serious problem for golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

ers or on pastures and unsealed airstrips, because the fragile surface easily collapses under pressure. Where it occurs, Aphaenogaster bioturbation

Bioturbation

In oceanography, limnology, pedology, geology , and archaeology, bioturbation is the displacement and mixing of sediment particles and solutes by fauna or flora . The mediators of bioturbation are typically annelid worms , bivalves In oceanography, limnology, pedology, geology (especially...

 is an important soil and landscape process.

Aphaenogaster probably gets most of its food from tended aphid

Aphid

Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...

s on the roots of plants, which explains that they are rarely seen on the surface. The funnel-shaped openings could play a role in trapping arthropods, which are also eaten.

Although they are not aggressive, they will bite when their nest is disturbed.

Species

• A. albisetosa Mayr, 1886
• A. annandalei Mukerjee, 1930
• A. araneoides Emery, 1890
• A. ashmeadi Emery, 1895
• A. atlantis Santschi, 1929
• A. avita Fujiyama, 1970
• A. balcanica (Emery, 1898)
• A. barbara Shattuck, 2008
• A. barbigula Wheeler, 1916
• A. baronii Cagniant, 1988
• A. beccarii Emery, 1887
• A. beesoni Donisthorpe, 1933
• A. belti Forel, 1895
• A. bidentatus
  Aphaenogaster bidentatus
  Aphaenogaster bidentatus is a species of ant in the family Formicidae. It is endemic to the United States.This is not a currently recognized taxon.-References:* Social Insects Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 31 July 2007....
  
  
• A. boulderensis Smith, 1941
• A. burri (Donisthorpe, 1950)
• A. caeciliae Viehmeyer, 1922
• A. campana Emery, 1878
• A. cardenai Espadaler, 1981
• A. cavernicola Donisthorpe, 1938
• A. cecconii Emery, 1894
• A. cockerelli Andre, 1893
• A. cristata (Forel, 1902)
• A. crocea Andre, 1881
• A. curiosa Santschi, 1933
• A. dejeani Cagniant, 1982
• A. depilis Santschi, 1911
• A. depressa Bolton, 1995
• A. dlusskyi Radchenko & Arakelian, 1991
• A. donisthorpei Carpenter, 1930
• A. dromedaria (Emery, 1900)
• A. dulciniae Emery, 1924
• A. ensifera Forel, 1899
• A. epirotes (Emery, 1915)
• A. espadaleri Cagniant, 1984
• A. exasperata Wheeler, 1921
• A. fabulosa Arnol'di, 1968
• A. fallax Cagniant, 1992
• A. famelica (Smith, 1874)
• A. faureli Cagniant, 1969
• A. feae Emery, 1889
• A. festae Emery, 1915
• A. finzii Mueller, 1921
• A. flemingi Smith, 1928
• A. floridana Smith, 1941
• A. friederichsi Forel, 1918
• A. fulva Roger, 1863
• A. geei Wheeler, 1921
• A. gemella (Roger, 1862)
• A. georgica Arnol'di, 1968
• A. gibbosa (Latreille, 1798)
• A. gigantea Collingwood, 1962
• A. gonacantha (Emery, 1899)
• A. haarlovi Collingwood, 1961
• A. hesperia Santschi, 1911
• A. holtzi (Emery, 1898)
• A. honduriana Mann, 1922
• A. huachucana Creighton, 1934
• A. hunanensis Wu & Wang, 1992
• A. iberica Emery, 1908
• A. inermita Bolton, 1995
• A. ionia Santschi, 1933
• A. isekram Bernard, 1977
• A. italica Bondroit, 1918
• A. januschevi Arnol'di, 1976
• A. kervillei Forel, 1910
• A. kimberleyensis Shattuck, 2008
• A. kurdica Ruzsky, 1905
• A. laevior Emery, 1887
• A. lamellidens Mayr, 1886
• A. ledouxi Tohme, 1969
• A. lepida Wheeler, 1930
• A. lesbica Forel, 1913
• A. livida (Heer, 1850)
• A. longaeva (Scudder, 1877)
• A. longiceps (Smith, 1858)
• A. loriai (Emery, 1897)
• A. lustrans Smith, 1961
• A. maculata Theobald, 1937
• A. maculipes Theobald, 1937
• A. mariae Forel, 1886
• A. mayri Carpenter, 1930
• A. mediterrae Shattuck, 2008
• A. megommata Smith, 1963
• A. mersa Wheeler, 1915
• A. messoroides Dlussky, 1990
• A. mexicana (Pergande, 1896)
• A. miamiana Wheeler, 1932
• A. miniata Cagniant, 1990
• A. muelleriana Wolf, 1915
• A. mutica Pergande, 1896
• A. nadigi Santschi, 1923
• A. nana Wheeler, 1932
• A. obsidiana Mayr, 1861
• A. occidentalis (Emery, 1895)
• A. oligocenica Wheeler, 1915
• A. osimensis Teranishi, 1940
• A. ovaticeps (Emery, 1898)
• A. pallescens Walker, 1871
• A. pallida (Nylander, 1849)
• A. pannonica Bachmayer, 1960
• A. patruelis Forel, 1886
• A. perplexa Smith, 1961
• A. phalangium Emery, 1890
• A. phillipsi Wheeler & Mann, 1916
• A. picea (Wheeler, 1908)
• A. picena Baroni Urbani, 1971
• A. poultoni Crawley, 1922
• A. praedo Emery, 1908
• A. praenoda Santschi, 1933
• A. projectens Donisthorpe, 1947
• A. punctaticeps MacKay, 1989
• A. pusilla Enzmann, 1947
• A. pythia Forel, 1915
• A. quadrispina Emery, 1911
• A. reichelae Shattuck, 2008
• A. relicta Wheeler & Mann, 1914
• A. rhaphidiiceps (Mayr, 1877)
• A. rifensis Cagniant, 1994
• A. rothneyi Forel, 1902
• A. ruida Wheeler, 1928
• A. rupestris Forel, 1909
• A. sagei (Forel, 1902)
• A. saharensis Bernard, 1953
• A. sangiorgii (Emery, 1901)
• A. sardoa Mayr, 1853
• A. schmidti Karavaiev, 1912
• A. schurri (Forel, 1902)
• A. semipolita (Nylander, 1856)
• A. senilis Mayr, 1853
• A. sicardi Cagniant, 1990
• A. sicula Emery, 1908
• A. simonellii Emery, 1894
• A. sinensis Wheeler, 1928
• A. smythiesii (Forel, 1902)
• A. sommerfeldti Mayr, 1868
• A. spinosa Emery, 1878
• A. splendida (Roger, 1859)
• A. striativentris Forel, 1895
• A. strioloides Forel, 1890
• A. subcostata Viehmeyer, 1922
• A. subterranea (Latreille, 1798)
• A. subterraneoides Emery, 1881
• A. swammerdami Forel, 1886
• A. syriaca Emery, 1908
• A. takahashii Wheeler, 1930
• A. tennesseensis (Mayr, 1862)
• A. testaceopilosa (Lucas, 1849)
• A. texana Wheeler, 1915
• A. theryi Santschi, 1923
• A. tibetana Donisthorpe, 1929
• A. tinauti Cagniant, 1992
• A. tipuna Forel, 1913
• A. torossiani Cagniant, 1988
• A. treatae Forel, 1886
• A. turkestanica Arnol'di, 1976
• A. uinta Wheeler, 1917
• A. ujhelyii Szabo, 1910
• A. vapida Wheeler, 1928
• A. verecunda Wheeler, 1928
• A. weigoldi Viehmeyer, 1922
• A. weulersseae Cagniant, 1989
• A. wilsoni Cagniant, 1988

External links

• Dale Ward: Aphaenogaster cockerelli