Subfamily: Dolichoderinae

Current Valid Name:

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2023)

Extant: 4 valid tribes, 28 valid genera, 714 valid species

Fossil: 2 valid tribes, 22 valid genera, 141 valid species

Dolichoderidae Forel, 1878c PDF: 364. Type-genus: Dolichoderus. AntCat AntWiki

Taxonomic history

Dolichoderinae as family: Emery, 1894h PDF: 378 [Dolichoderidae]; Ashmead, 1905c PDF: 384 [Dolichoderidae]; Novák & Sadil, 1941 PDF: 94 [Dolichoderidae]; Bernard, 1951c: 1071 [Dolichoderidae]; Bernard, 1953b PDF: 255 [Dolichoderidae].

Dolichoderinae as tribe of Formicidae: André, 1882a PDF: 127 [Dolichoderidae].

Dolichoderinae as subfamily of Formicidae: Forel, 1878c PDF: 364 [Dolichoderidae]; Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 454 [Dolichoderidae]; Nasonov, 1889: 26 [Dolichoderidae]; Forel, 1892k PDF: 220 [Dolichoderidae]; Forel, 1893b PDF: 165; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 156; Forel, 1895b PDF: 107 [Dolichoderidae]; Emery, 1895l PDF: 771 [subfamily spelled Dolichoderini]; Emery, 1896e PDF: 186; Forel, 1899f PDF: 98; Bingham, 1903 PDF: 288; Wheeler, 1910a PDF: 142; Emery, 1913a PDF: 2; Arnold, 1915: 143; Wheeler, 1915i PDF: 71; Wheeler, 1915h PDF: 811 [Dolichoderides]; Arnold, 1915: 143; Donisthorpe, 1915f PDF: 178; Forel, 1917 PDF: 247; Escherich, 1917: 2 [Dolichoderini]; Bondroit, 1918 PDF: 86 [Dolichoderitae]; Wheeler, 1920 PDF: 53; Wheeler, 1922: 199; Borgmeier, 1923: 80; Karavaiev, 1936: 163; Smith, 1951c PDF: 833; Clark, 1951 PDF: 16; Brown, 1954e PDF: 29; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 266; Wheeler & Wheeler, 1972a PDF: 41; Brown, 1973b PDF: 169; all subsequent authors.

Dolichoderinae as formicomorph subfamily of Formicidae: Bolton, 2003 PDF: 18, 80.

Dolichoderinae as formicoid subfamily of Formicidae: Brady et al., 2006 PDF: 18173; Moreau et al., 2006 PDF: 102.

Dolichoderinae as formicoid dolichoderomorph subfamily of Formicidae: Ward, 2007c PDF: 556.

Tribes of Dolichoderinae: Bothriomyrmecini, Dolichoderini, Leptomyrmecini, †Miomyrmecini, Tapinomini, †Zherichiniini

Genera incertae sedis in Dolichoderinae: †Alloiomma, †Elaeomyrmex, †Elaphrodites, †Eldermyrmex, †Eotapinoma, †Eurymyrmex, †Kotshkorkia, †Ktunaxia, †Miomyrmex, †Petraeomyrmex, †Proiridomyrmex, †Protazteca, †Usomyrma, †Zherichinius

Subfamily Dolichoderinae and tribes references, world

Forel, 1878c PDF: 364, 380 (diagnosis, genera); Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 156 (catalogue); Emery, 1895l PDF: 771 (synoptic classification); Emery, 1896e PDF: 186 (genera key); Handlirsch, 1907: 869 (*fossil taxa catalogue); Wheeler, 1910a PDF: 142 (diagnosis); Emery, 1913a PDF: 2, 6 (diagnosis, tribe key, catalogue); Emery, 1913a PDF: 17 (Tapinomini diagnosis, genera key, catalogue); Arnold, 1915: 144, (diagnosis); Gallardo, 1916b PDF: 3 (diagnosis); Forel, 1917 PDF: 247 (synoptic classification); Forel, 1921c: 136 (diagnosis); Wheeler, 1922: 199, 687, 688 (diagnosis, tribe key, Tapinomini genera key); Brown & Nutting, 1950 PDF: 127 (venation, phylogeny); Brown, 1954e PDF: 29 (phylogeny); Pavan, 1955: 135 (gastral organs); Eisner, 1957 PDF: 453 (proventriculus morphology); Bernard, 1967a PDF: 246 (diagnosis); Gotwald, 1969b PDF: 118 (mouthparts morphology); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1972a PDF: 41 (diagnosis); Brown, 1973b PDF: 169 (genera & distribution); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1976b PDF: 61 (larvae, review & synthesis); Snelling, 1981: 401 (synoptic classification); Dazzini Valcurone & Fanfani, 1985: 1 (gastral glands); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1985b PDF: 258 (synoptic classification); Billen, 1986b: 173 (Dufour's gland); Billen, 1987a: 278 (abdominal glands); Baroni Urbani & Wilson, 1987 PDF: 1 (*fossil Leptomyrmecini); Dlussky & Fedoseeva, 1988: 77 (synoptic classification); Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990: 9 (synoptic classification, genera keys); Baroni Urbani et al., 1992 PDF: 316 (phylogeny); Shattuck, 1992b PDF: 199 (higher classification, phylogeny); Shattuck, 1992c PDF: 20 (revision of subfamily, genera key); Shattuck, 1994 PDF: 3 (catalogue); Bolton, 1994: 22 (diagnosis, synoptic classification, genera keys); Shattuck, 1995 PDF: 217 (phylogeny, genera); Bolton, 1995a PDF: 1038 (census); Bolton, 1995b: 10 (catalogue); Wenseleers et al., 1998: 121 (cloacal gland); Brandão et al., 1999 PDF: 411 (phylogeny, genera); Chiotis et al., 2000: 108 (phylogeny, genera); Dlussky & Rasnitsyn, 2003 PDF: 416 (diagnosis for impression fossils); Bolton, 2003 PDF: 18, 80 (diagnosis, synopsis); Dubovikoff, 2005a PDF: 91 (tribes of Dolichoderinae); Brady et al., 2006 PDF: 18173 (phylogeny); Moreau et al., 2006 PDF: 102 (phylogeny); Ward et al., 2010 PDF: 342 (phylogeny, tribe-rank classification); Keller, 2011 PDF: 1 (morphology, phylogeny); Boudinot, 2015 PDF: 50 (male diagnosis); Fisher & Bolton, 2016: 42 (worker diagnosis); Perrichot et al., 2022 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac053 PDF: 9 (male diagnosis in diagnosis of †Ravavy goldmani)

Regional and national faunas with keys

André, 1882a PDF: 127 (Europe & Algeria); Nasonov, 1889: 50 (Russia); Forel, 1891c PDF: 9 (Madagascar genera); Forel, 1895f PDF: 460 (India & Sri Lanka); Bingham, 1903 PDF: 288 (India, Sri Lanka & Burma); Ruzsky, 1905b: 102 (Russian Empire); Bondroit, 1910 PDF: 488 (Belgium); Wheeler, 1910a PDF: 560 (North America genera); Stitz, 1914 PDF: 77 (Central Europe); Gallardo, 1915 PDF: 34 (Argentina genera); Forel, 1915d: 40 (Switzerland); Arnold, 1915: 145 (South Africa); Donisthorpe, 1915f PDF: 178 (Britain); Gallardo, 1916b PDF: 12 (Argentina); Emery, 1916a PDF: 208 (Italy); Wheeler, 1916r: 589 (U.S.A., Connecticut); Bondroit, 1918 PDF: 86 (France & Belgium); Gallardo, 1919b PDF: 253 (Argentina genera); Soudek, 1922b PDF: 58 (Czechoslovakia); Stärcke, 1926b: 117 (Netherlands); Karavaiev, 1927d: 271 (Ukraine); Donisthorpe, 1927c: 199 (Britain); Menozzi & Russo, 1930 PDF: 172 (Dominican Republic); Arnol'di, 1933a: 600 (Russia); Menozzi, 1933b PDF: 90 (Israel genera); Karavaiev, 1936: 164 (Ukraine); Smith, 1937 PDF: 861 (Puerto Rico); Stitz, 1939: 209 (Germany); Kratochvíl, 1941b PDF: 94 (Central Europe); Novák & Sadil, 1941 PDF: 94 (Central Europe); Cole, 1942 PDF: 370 (U.S.A., Utah); Smith, 1943e PDF: 309 (U.S.A. males); Buren, 1944a PDF: 290 (U.S.A., Iowa); Smith, 1947f PDF: 592 (U.S.A. genera); Creighton, 1950a PDF: 330 (North America); Kusnezov, 1956a PDF: 27 (Argentina); Brown, 1958h PDF: 29 (New Zealand); Kusnezov, 1959 PDF: 40 (Neotropical genera); Gregg, 1963: 341 (U.S.A., Colorado); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1963: 149 (U.S.A., North Dakota); Bernard, 1967a PDF: 246 (Western Europe); Wilson & Taylor, 1967b PDF: 17 (Polynesia); Bolton, 1973a PDF: 329 (West Africa genera); Bolton & Collingwood, 1975: 3 (Britain); Boven, 1970b: 24 (Netherlands); Snelling & Hunt, 1976 PDF: 90 (Chile); Tarbinsky, 1976 PDF: 118 (Kyrghyzstan); Van Boven, 1977 PDF: 123 (Belgium); Kutter, 1977c PDF: 170 (Switzerland); Arnol'di & Dlussky, 1978: 546 (former European U.S.S.R.); Collingwood, 1978 PDF: 80 (Iberian Peninsula); Collingwood, 1979 PDF: 32 (Fennoscandia & Denmark); Greenslade, 1979: 28 (South Australia genera); Schembri & Collingwood, 1981 PDF: 420 (Malta); Allred, 1982: 443 (U.S.A., Utah); Baroni Urbani, 1984 PDF: 80 (Neotropical genera); Gösswald, 1985: 314 (Germany); Collingwood, 1985 PDF: 242 (Saudi Arabia); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1986g PDF: 55 (U.S.A., Nevada); Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b PDF: 278 (Balkans); Dlussky et al., 1990 PDF: 168 (Turkmenistan); Kupyanskaya, 1990a: 152 (Far Eastern Russia); Morisita et al., 1991: 2 (Japan); Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 49 (Bulgaria); Lattke, in Jaffe, 1993: 147 (Neotropical genera); Arakelian, 1994 PDF: 70 (Armenia); Wu & Wang, 1995a: 115 (China genera); Kupyanskaya, 1995: 331 (Far Eastern Russia); Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 PDF: 359 (Saudi Arabia); Seifert, 1996b: 161 (Central Europe); Skinner & Allen, 1996: 40 (Britain); Collingwood & Prince, 1998: 20 (Portugal); Kim & Kim, 1999 PDF: 18 (Korea); Shattuck, 1999: 26, 64 (Australia genera, synopsis); Andersen, 2000: 59 (northern Australia genera); Zhou, 2001a PDF: 149 (China, Guangxi); Czechowski et al., 2002 PDF: 134 (Poland); Aktaç & Radchenko, 2002: 54 (Turkey genera); Yoshimura & Onoyama, 2002b PDF: 425 (Japan genera, males); Mackay & Mackay, 2002 PDF: 221 (U.S.A., New Mexico); Palacio & Fernández, 2003: 239 (Neotropical genera); Radchenko, 2005b PDF: 186 (North Korea); Coovert, 2005 PDF: 102 (U.S.A., Ohio); Clouse, 2007b PDF: 190 (Micronesia); Seifert, 2007: 147 (North and Central Europe); Fisher, 2009a PDF: 51 (Malagasy genera); Terayama, 2009 PDF: 196 (Taiwan); Heterick, 2009 PDF: 28 (south-western Australia genera); Boer, 2010: 14 (Benelux); Yoshimura & Fisher, 2011 PDF: 7 (Malagasy males key); General & Alpert, 2012 PDF: 70 (Philippines genera key); Guerrero, 2019 PDF: 693 (Colombia fauna); Borowiec & Salata, 2022 PDF: 32 (key to Greece genera).

// Distribution

Distribution:

  Geographic regions (According to curated Geolocale/Taxon lists):
    Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Europa Island, Gabon, Ghana, Grande Glorieuse, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Juan de Nova Island, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Macaronesia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
    Americas: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Galapagos Islands, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, United States Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela
    Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Borneo, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Krakatau Islands, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicobar Island, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
    Europe: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Balearic Islands, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Åland Islands
    Oceania: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Lord Howe Island, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna
  Biogeographic regions (According to curated Bioregion/Taxon lists):
    Afrotropical, Australasia, Indomalaya, Malagasy, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oceania, Palearctic

Identification:

Like the Formicinae (q.v.), the members of this subfamily lack a postpetiole and a functional sting. The antennal sockets are adjacent to the posterior margin of the clypeus, and the apex of the abdomen has a slit-shaped orifice, rather than an acidopore. As in the Formicinae, the clypeus is broad, the eyes are usually well developed, the antennal insertions are not wholly concealed by the frontal carinae, and the promesonotal suture is present and generally flexible.

Notes:

Although less species-rich than the Formicinae, dolichoderine ants are often among the dominant species in an ant community. About a dozen species occur in California.

References:

Billen (1987a); Bolton (1994); Brandão et al. (1999); Chiotis et al. (2000); Shattuck (1992b, 1992c, 1995).

Taxonomic Treatment (provided by Plazi)

Treatment Citation: Collingwood, C. A., 1979, The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark., Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 8, pp. 1-174

SUBFAMILY DOLICHODERINAEHNS FOREL

This subfamily includes fifteen genera with the greatest number of species distributed through the tropics. The sting is vestigial or absent but many species have poison glands that excrete a repellent fluid through the anal orifice. The gaster has a reduced number of segments compared with FormicinaeHNS and Ponerinae of which four only are visible in dorsal view in the female castes and five in the males. Pupae are not protected by cocoons. The two genera treated here both belong in the tribe TapinominiHNS.

Keys to genera of DolichoderinaeHNS

Queens and workers

1 Petiole scale well developed, not obscured by overhanging gaster; front border of clypeus convex and entire (Fig. 20)................................. IridomyrmexHNS Mayr (p. 33)

- Petiole a small node overhung by first gastral segment; front border of clypeus straight, incised or concave (Fig. 22) ............................ TapinomaHNS Forster (p. 34)

Males

1 Petiole scale well developed. Scape short, not reaching occipital margin IridomyrmexHNS Mayr (p. 33)

- Petiole a reduced node. Scape long, overreaching occipital margin TapinomaHNS Forster (p. 34)

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Subfamily: Dolichoderinae Forel, 1878

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