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Subfamily: Formicinae

Name Status: Valid Name

Taxonomic Hierarchy:

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2013)

Extant: 11 tribes, 51 genera, 3,053 species, 850 subspecies

Fossil: 29 genera, 209 species, 3 subspecies

Formicariae Latreille, 1809 PDF: 124 Type-genus: Formica. AntCat AntWiki

Taxonomic history

Formicinae as group name: Latreille, 1809 PDF: 124 [Formicariae]; Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835 PDF: 197 [Formicites]; Nylander, 1846a PDF: 877 [Formicae].

Formicinae as family: Smith, 1858a PDF: 1 [Formicidae]; Smith, 1861b PDF: 36 [Formicidae]; Smith, 1871b PDF: 302 [Formicidae]; André, 1882a: 125 [Formicidae]; Saunders, 1896 PDF: 18 [Formicidae]; Novák & Sadil, 1941 PDF: 97 [Formicidae]; Bernard, 1951c: 1073 [Formicidae]; Bernard, 1953b PDF: 256 [Formicidae].

Formicinae as tribe of Formicidae: André, 1874: 167 [Formicidae].

Formicinae as subfamily of Formicidae: Mayr, 1855 PDF: 286, 299 [Formicidae]; Mayr, 1861 PDF: 21 [Formicidae]; Mayr, 1862 PDF: 651 [Formicidae]; Mayr, 1865: 6 [Formicidae]; Mayr, 1868c PDF: 24 [Formicidae]; Forel, 1870 PDF: 307 [Formicidae]; Forel, 1874 PDF: 21 [Formicidae]; Emery, 1877b PDF: 70 [Formicidae]; André, 1881c PDF: 54 [Formicidae]; Ashmead, 1905c PDF: 384; Bondroit, 1918 PDF: 17 [Formicitae]; Wheeler, 1920 PDF: 53; Wheeler, 1922: 210; Emery, 1925d PDF: 2; Karavaiev, 1936: 172; Clark, 1951 PDF: 16; Brown, 1954e: 29; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 266; Brown, 1973b: 169; all subsequent authors.

Formicinae as formicomorph subfamily of Formicidae: Bolton, 2003 PDF: 20, 93.

Formicinae as formicoid subfamily of Formicidae: Brady, Schultz, et al. 2006: 18173; Moreau, Bell, et al. 2006: 102.

Formicinae as formicoid formicomorph subfamily of Formicidae: Ward, 2007C PDF: 556.

Tribes of Formicinae: Camponotini, Formicini, Gesomyrmecini, Gigantiopini, Lasiini, Melophorini, Myrmecorhynchini, Myrmoteratini, Notostigmatini, Oecophyllini, Plagiolepidini.

Genera (extinct) incertae sedis in Formicinae: †Camponotites, †Drymomyrmex, †Imhoffia, †Kyromyrma, †Leucotaphus, †Protrechina.

Hong (2002) genera (extinct) incertae sedis in Formicinae: †Curtipalpulus, †Eoleptocerites, †Eurytarsites, †Fushuniformica, †Huaxiaformica, †Leptogasteritus, †Liaoformica, †Longiformica, †Magnogasterites, †Orbicapitia, †Ovalicapito, †Ovaligastrula, †Sinoformica, †Sinotenuicapito, †Wilsonia.

Subfamily Formicinae references, world

Mayr, 1862 PDF: 651 (genera key); Mayr, 1865: 6 (diagnosis); Handlirsch, 1907: 859 (*fossil taxa catalogue); Dalla Torre, 1893: 171 (catalogue); Emery, 1895l PDF: 772 (synoptic classification); Emery, 1896e PDF: 187 (genera key); Wheeler, 1910a PDF: 143 (diagnosis); Forel, 1912j PDF: 88 (tribes key); Forel, 1917 PDF: 248 (synoptic classification); Arnold, 1920a PDF: 551 (diagnosis); Forel, 1921c: 139 (diagnosis); Wheeler, 1922: 210, 691 (diagnosis, tribes key); Emery, 1925d PDF: 2 (diagnosis, tribe key, catalogue); Brown & Nutting, 1950: 127 (venation, phylogeny); Eisner, 1957 PDF: 465 (proventriculus morphology); Hung & Brown, 1966: 198 (gastric apex, structure); Bernard, 1967a PDF: 267 (diagnosis); Gotwald, 1969: 120 (mouthparts morphology); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1972a PDF: 41 (diagnosis); Brown, 1973b: 169 (genera, distribution); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1976b PDF: 62 (larvae, review & synthesis); Snelling, 1981: 402 (synoptic classification); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1985b PDF: 258 (synoptic classification); Billen, 1986b: 173 (Dufour's gland); Dlussky & Fedoseeva, 1988: 77 (synoptic classification); Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990: 9 (synoptic classification, genera keys); Agosti, 1991 PDF: 295 (genus group diagnoses); Shattuck, 1992b PDF: 201 (phylogeny); Baroni Urbani, Bolton & Ward, 1992 PDF: 317 (phylogeny); Bolton, 1994: 42 (diagnosis, synoptic classification, genera keys); Bolton, 1995a PDF: 1039 (census); Bolton, 1995b: 11 (catalogue); Wenseleers, Schoeters, et al. 1998: 121 (cloacal gland); Dlussky & Rasnitsyn, 2003 PDF: 417 (diagnosis for impression fossils); Bolton, 2003 PDF: 20, 93 (diagnosis, synopsis); Brady, Schultz, et al. 2006: 18173 (phylogeny); Moreau, Bell, et al. 2006: 102 (phylogeny); Keller, 2011 PDF: 1 (morphology, phylogeny).

Regional and national faunas with keys

Mayr, 1855 PDF: 299 (Austria); Mayr, 1861 PDF: 25 (Europe); Mayr, 1868c PDF: 25 (*Baltic Amber); André, 1874: 167 (Europe); Forel, 1874 PDF: 22 (Switzerland); Saunders, 1880 PDF: 203 (Britain); André, 1882a: 126 (Europe & Algeria); Provancher, 1887: 225 (Canada); Cresson, 1887: 94 (U.S.A. genera); Nasonov, 1889: 50 (Russia); Forel, 1891c PDF: 8 (Madagascar genera); Lameere, 1892: 62 (Belgium); Forel, 1892k PDF: 220 (India & Sri Lanka); Bingham, 1903 PDF: 308 (India, Sri Lanka & Burma); Ruzsky, 1905b: 100 (Russian Empire); Wasmann, 1906 PDF: 7 (Luxemburg); Bondroit, 1910 PDF: 481 (Belgium); Wheeler, 1910a PDF: 560 (North America genera); Stitz, 1914 PDF: 80 (Central Europe); Gallardo, 1915 PDF: 35 (Argentina genera); Forel, 1915d: 45 (Switzerland); Donisthorpe, 1915f: 184 (Britain); Emery, 1916a PDF: 216 (Italy); Wheeler, 1916r: 590 (U.S.A., Connecticut); Bondroit, 1918 PDF: 17 (France & Belgium); Arnold, 1920a PDF: 552 (South Africa); Kutter, 1920b: 134 (Switzerland); Soudek, 1922b PDF: 61 (Czechoslovakia); Lomnicki, 1925a PDF: 160 (Poland); Stärcke, 1926: 118, 146 (Netherlands); Karavaiev, 1927d: 273 (Ukraine); Donisthorpe, 1927c: 205 (Britain); Menozzi & Russo, 1930 PDF: 172 (Dominican Republic); Arnol'di, 1933a: 601 (Russia); Menozzi, 1933b PDF: 90 (Israel genera); Karavaiev, 1936: 173 (Ukraine); Smith, 1937 PDF: 865 (Puerto Rico); Stitz, 1939: 230 (Germany); Kratochvíl, 1941b: 97 (Central Europe); Novák & Sadil, 1941 PDF: 97 (Central Europe); Cole, 1942: 373 (U.S.A., Utah); Smith, 1943e PDF: 309 (U.S.A., males); Buren, 1944a PDF: 292 (U.S.A., Iowa); Holgersen, 1943c PDF: 173 (Norway); Holgersen, 1944a PDF: 199 (Norway); Smith, 1947f PDF: 599 (U.S.A. genera); Boven, 1947: 181 (Belgium); Creighton, 1950a PDF: 355 (North America); Kusnezov, 1956a PDF: 31 (Argentina); Brown, 1958h: 42 (New Zealand); Boven, 1959: 11 (Netherlands); Gregg, 1963: 447 (U.S.A., Colorado); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1963: 160 (U.S.A., North Dakota); Collingwood, 1964b PDF: 104 (Britain); Bernard, 1967a PDF: 268 (Western Europe); Wilson & Taylor, 1967b PDF: 17 (Polynesia); Boven, 1970b: 26 (Netherlands); Kempf, 1972b PDF: 266 (Neotropical, synoptic classification); Bolton, 1973a PDF: 329 (West Africa genera); Bolton & Collingwood, 1975: 3 (Britain); Snelling & Hunt, 1975 PDF: 104 (Chile); Tarbinsky, 1976 PDF: 126 (Kyrghyzstan); Boven, 1977: 126 (Belgium); Kutter, 1977c: 183 (Switzerland); Arnol'di & Dlussky, 1978: 548 (former European U.S.S.R.); Collingwood, 1978 PDF: 88 (Iberian Peninsula); Collingwood, 1979 PDF: 85 (Fennoscandia & Denmark); Greenslade, 1979: 32 (South Australia genera); Schembri & Collingwood, 1981 PDF: 436 (Malta); Prins, 1983 PDF: 8 (Southern Africa genera); Allred, 1982: 444 (U.S.A., Utah); Verhaeghe, Deligne, et al., 1984: 106 (Belgium genera); Baroni Urbani, 1984 PDF: 81 (Neotropical genera); Gösswald, 1985: 263 (Germany); Collingwood, 1985 PDF: 273 (Saudi Arabia); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1986g PDF: 58 (U.S.A., Nevada); Nilsson & Douwes, 1987: 68 (Norway); Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b PDF: 279 (Balkans); Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990 PDF: 124 (Turkmenistan); Kupyanskaya, 1990a: 162 (Far Eastern Russia); Morisita, Kubota, Onoyama, et al., 1991: 10 (Japan); Atanasov & Dlussky, 1992: 49 (Bulgaria); Shattuck, 1992b PDF: 199 (higher classification, phylogeny); Lattke, in Jaffe, 1993: 150 (Neotropical genera); Arakelian, 1994 PDF: 76 (Armenia); Wu & Wang, 1995a: 125 (China genera); Kupyanskaya, 1995: 332 (Far Eastern Russia); Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 PDF: 361 (Saudi Arabia); Seifert, 1996B: 166 (Central Europe); Skinner & Allen, 1996: 41 (Britain); Collingwood & Prince, 1998: 21 (Portugal); Shattuck, 1999: 25, 86 (Australia genera, synopsis); Andersen, 2000: 68 (northern Australia genera); Zhou, 2001A PDF: 165 (China, Guangxi); Czechowski, Radchenko & Czechowska, 2002 PDF: 147 (Poland); Aktaç & Radchenko, 2002: 54 (Turkey genera); Yoshimura & Onoyama, 2002B: 425 (Japan genera, males); Mackay & MacKay, 2002 PDF: 236 (U.S.A., New Mexico); Palacio & Fernández, in Fernández, 2003: 242 (Neotropical genera); Radchenko, 2005b: 187 (North Korea); Coovert, 2005: 113 (U.S.A., Ohio); Clouse, 2007B: 190 (Micronesia); Seifert, 2007: 150 (North and Central Europe); Terayama, 2009 PDF: 202 (Taiwan); Heterick, 2009 PDF: 30 (south-western Australia genera); Boer, 2010: 17 (Benelux); General & Alpert, 2012 PDF: 71 (Philippines genera key).

Subfamily Formicinae references, world

Regional and national faunas with keys

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, usually fringed with hairs (acidopore). 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.

Notes:

This is a cosmopolitan group, with about 100 species in California. These include mound-building Formica ants; carpenter ants in the genus Camponotus; and honeypot ants (Myrmecocystus).