Taxonomy. The genus Tetraponera was recently revised by Ward (2001). Workers of Vietnamese species have the following features.
Worker monomorphic; head in full-face view subrectangular, with round posterolateral corner; frontal lobe weakly developed, not expanding over torulus; frontal carina and antennal scrobe absent; median part of clypeus short anteroposteriorly, steep or vertical; posteromedian portion of clypeus not extended backwards between frontal lobes; mandible narrow, with 3-5 teeth on masticatory margin and 0-2 denticles on basal margin; antenna 12- segmented, not forming club or gradually incrassate; eye very large, located at or a little behind midlength of sides of head; mesosoma elongated; promesonotal suture always present and flexible; metathoracic spiracle sometimes present; metanotal groove deeply impressed dorsally (but rarely present as a weak transverse furrow); propodeum unarmed; propodeal spiracle situated high on side and far forward; pretarsal claws each with a preapical tooth on inner margin; petiole, postpetiole and first gastral segment not fused laterally; postpetiole developed, in dorsal view broadly attached to first gastral segment; sting present, usually well developed.
Vietnamese species. Seven species have been recognized by us from Vietnam: attenuata F. Smith [= sp. eg-1] (Nam Cat Tien, Nui Chua, Pu Mat, Tay Yen Tu, Van Ban); microcarpa Wu & Wang [= sp. eg-7] (Tay Yen Tu); modesta (F. Smith) [= sp. eg-4] (Tay Yen Tu); nitida (F. Smith) [= sp. eg-5] (Nui Chua, Pu Mat); pilosa (F. Smith) [= sp. eg-6] (Nam Cat Tien); rufonigra (Jerdon) [= sp. eg-2] (Tay Yen Tu); sp. eg-3 [cf. allaborans (Walker)] (Nam Cat Tien, Nui Chua, Pu Mat, Van Ban).
Bionomics. Vietnamese Tetraponera species are arboreal and nest in living and dead branches of standing trees. We often encountered colonies nesting in or moving from newly fallen branches.
Worker.-Small, monomorphic or very rarely (in one South African species, T. ambigua Emery , according to Arnold) with the head dimorphic. Body long and slender. Head subrectangular, with large or very large, moderately convex eyes, onethird to two-fifths as long as the head; ocelli vestigial, often absent. Mandibles short and stout, with distinct basal and apical border, the latter with a small number of subequal teeth. Clypeus extremely short, steep, elevated in the middle but not extending back between the frontal carinae, the anterior border emarginate, dentate or crenulate. Frontal carinae small, short, closely approximated, lobular anteriorly, often slightly diverging behind. Maxillary palpi 5-jointed; labial palpi 4-jointed. Antennae short, 12-jointed, the funiculi somewhat thickened at their tips, without distinct clava. Thorax narrow, with well-developed premesonotal and mesoepinotal sutures and a distinct metanotal sclerite, often constricted in the mesoepinotal region. Epinotum large and rather high, always unarmed. Petiole and often also the postpetiole pedunculate, rather long and slender, both with low, rounded nodes, their ventral portions not swollen or with stout teeth. Gaster narrow and elongate oval, with well-developed, exserted sting. Middle and hind tibiae with pectinated median spurs; claws toothed.
Female very similar to the worker and scarcely larger, winged; the wings short, the anterior pair with a discoidal, two closed cubital cells and a rather narrow, closed radial.
Male scarcely smaller than the worker and very similar except for the wings. Head shorter. Eyes and ocelli well developed, convex. Mandibles well developed, with dentate apical borders. Antennae 12-jointed, the scape but little longer than the second funicular joint, the first joint much shorter than the second, not swollen. Mesonotum depressed, not overarching the pronotum, without Mayrian furrows and with very feeble parapsidal furrows. There is, at least in some species, a concavity in the pro- and mesosterna, extending dorsally nearly to the mesonotal scutum. External genitalia well developed, exserted. Cerci present. Wings as in the female.
Larva hypocephalic, with papillary exudatoria on the three thoracic and first abdominal segments. Dorsal surface with long straight hairs, hooked at their tips.
Donisthorpe (1916, Ent. Record, XXVIII, pp. 242-244) has shown that Sima Roger, the name used by most authors for this genus, must be sunk as an isonym of Tetraponera F. Smith, contrary to Emery's contention(1915, Zool. Anzeiger, XLV, p. 265). The case seems to be very clear, as Smith founded his genus Tetraponera (1852) on two species, atrata (= Eciton nigrum Jerdon ) and testacea. The latter he afterwards (1855) placed in the genus Pseudomyrma. Roger founded his genus Sima in 1863 on S. compressa Roger (= Pseudomyrma? allaborans Walker ). Later (1900) Emery separated the genus Sima into two subgenera, Sima, sensu stricto, and Tetraponera , the former with, the latter without ocelli in the worker and selected Eciton rufonigrum Jerdon as the type of Sima, sensu stricto. This was an improper procedure, since the worker of Roger's type species, S. allaborans has no ocelli.
Examination of the males of several of the Indomalayan species of Tetraponera shows that they all have 12-jointed antennae. This is also true of the males of Pachysima, Viticicola , and even of Pseudomyrma and, hence, of the whole tribe Pseudomyrmini of Emery. Nevertheless, in his recent classification of the Myrmicinae (1914, Rend. Accad. Sc. Bologna, p. 34) he cites the males of this tribe as having 13-jointed antennae. Bingham and Arnold also give the same number for Tetraponera , and Santschi, who was the first to describe the male of Pachysima aethiops , failed to notice that it has 12-jointed antennae.
The genus Tetraponera is distributed over the Ethiopian, Malagasy, Indomalayan, Papuan, and Australian Regions (Map 18), being best represented in the Ethiopian and Indomalayan. One species, T. bifoveolata, (Mayi"), was taken by Dr. W. M. Mann as far north as Palestine. The species all nest in plant cavities (dead wood, twigs, stems of lianas, acacia spines, etc.) and are very quick in their movements. Their habits throughout are very similar to those of the allied Neotropical genus Pseudomyrma. The species of the latter, however, are much more numerous and constitute an abundant and conspicuous part of the Neotropical ant-fauna, whereas the species of Tetraponera are comparatively rare ants.
Map 18. Distribution of the genera Tetraponera (crossed area) and Viticicola (known localities indicated by crosses).
Ареал охватывает континентальную часть Юго-Восточной Азии и Зондские о-ва. Для Вьетнама указан В.А. Караваевым (Karawajew, 1935): Лье Чеу, окр. Тоурана, Центр. Аннам. В нашем распоряжении име- ется материал из следующих точек Вьетнама: 30 км С Хошимина, долина р.Рай (По- каржевский); о.Че близ Нячанга; бухта Ванфонг, о.Мизянг (Курзенко); Дак-линь, 25 км Ю Ю З Буон-Ма-Туот (Медведев); 50 км С Ан-Кхе; ст. Ханьин (Янушев); арх. Байтылонг, о-ва Кебао и Донгкхо; о-ва Б айкань и Кондао (Радченко), а также из Ю ж -
ного Китая: Юньнань, 30 км ЮВ Чэли; Юньнань, окр. Фохая (Панфи- лов); Гуандун, Вэнцюань (Родендорф).
и Юго-Восточной Азии, включая Зонд- ские о-ва. Для Вьетнама приводит- ся впервые: Ханьин (Янушев); Дак- Линь, 35 км Ю Ю З Буон-Матуот (Мед- ведев); о-ва Намзу, о.Зян; о.Дау (Курзенко); Аннам, Сонг Динь (Пли- гинский); о-ва Б айкань и Кондао; о.Тхом (Сиамский залив) (Радченко). На север доходит до Китая (Юньнань, окр. Фохая, Панфилов).
В коллекции В.А.Караваева имеются экземпляры из Кампучии (пров. Кампот, побережье Сиамского залива), определенные им как Sima
allaborans var. sumatrensis Em. Од- нако они практически не отличают- ся от T.allaborans из Вьетнама. Впол- не вероятно, что название var. sumatrensis Emery, 1900 является синонимом Т. allaborans Walker, 1859, но для окончательного сужде- ния у нас недостаточно данных.
P и с. 2. Д е т а л и строения муравьев из родов May- ridia, Calyptomyrmex , Meranoplus , Cataulacus :
1,7 - голова спереди; 2, S, 10 - тело в профиль; 3, 9 - грудь и стебелек сверху; 4,5- проподеум и стебелек в профиль; 6 - проподеум и стебелек с в е р - ху (4 - по Baroni-Urbani, 5,6- по Wheeler, о с т а л ь - ные - ориг.). 1-3 - Mayriella granulata sp. n.; 4 - M. transfuga Вar.-Urb.; 5, 6 - M.spinosior W h 1.; 7, 8 - Calyptomyrmex rectopilosus sp. n.; 9 - Meranoplus bicolor Guer; 10 - Cataulacus simoni Em.
Simaallaborans var . longinoda Forel, 1909: 395, рабочие; Emery, 1921: 25.
T. longinoda F o r. хорошо от- личается от T.allaborans Walk , фор- мой проподеума, более длинной суженой частью петиоля (ср. рис. 1, 4 и 1, 5), а также менее утолщенными задними бедрами (их длина в 3,46-. 3,62 раза, а у T.allaborans - в 2,81-3,14 раза больше максимальной толщины). Описан с Цейлона. Для Вьетнама приводится впервые: 50км сев. Ан Кхе, в лесу (Янушев). Tetraponera (Т.) bidentata (Karawajew, 1933). Описан ВА.Караваевым с Явы. Для Вьетнама указывается впервые: арх. Байтылонг,о.Донгкхо; о.Тхом (Сиам- ский залив) (Радченко). Очень близок к T. longiceps Forel, 1902 (= Simadifficilis Em . r. longiceps Forel, subsp. n. ); отличается (судя по описанию А.Фореля) формой пропо- деума. ВА. Караваев (Karawajew, 1933) указывал, что S. bidentata близок к S.difficilis Em. , однако никаких отличий между названными видами не указал. Окончательный вывод о статусе T.bidentata K a r. можно будет получить после сравнения с типами
T.difficilis E m.
Tetraponera is a genus of ants in the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae that are commonly known as slender ants and are characterized by their arboreal nature and slender bodies. The 96 described species of Tetraponera all of which live in hollow structures of plants and trees, such as thorns or branches; these hosts are known as myrmecophytes. Tetraponera species are closely related to the New World genus of ants Pseudomyrmex, but differ in their relationships with host plants.
Tetraponera species are generally defined by the myrmecophytes they inhabit and the mutualistic relationship they share.[2] These host plants always have hollow thorns or branches in which the ants can live and form a colony. Also, the myrmecophytes provide energy rich food sources such as extrafloral nectar and/or food bodies. All Tetraponera species have gut symbionts that allow them to digest amino acid-deficient food provided by their host plants; these gut bacteria are especially important for the species that only survive on the myrmecophyte-provided foods.
All Tetraponera species provide protection for their host plants through aggressive nature towards other insects and trimming leaves/branches of neighbouring plants. Living in hollow structures of the plants allows the ants to detect vibrations when larger insects land on the plant, or workers on patrol visually detect smaller intruders. Once detected, sophisticated pheromone systems allow the ants to quickly outnumber and overpower any invaders. Most insect invaders are killed and discarded by Tetraponera workers such as caterpillars and aphids, but some are killed and consumed. The insects that take the most time and effort to kill are generally consumed; these are mostly katydids or leaf beetles.
As well as assaulting and killing insects that attack their host plant, Tetraponera ants will attack any mammals that present a threat. Inflicting the mammals with painful stings will usually deter them from attacking the plant.
In some arboreal ant species, not just Tetraponera, a third partner in ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms is hemipteran trophobionts. These insects provide a possible third source of food for the ants, in return the ants feed and “nurture” the Hemiptera inside their colonies.
Tetraponera species are found commonly in the warmer regions of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Different species are associated with different plant species. The most common myrmecophytes for Tetraponera are acacias, but the wide variety of hosts for this genus include bamboos and lianas. Tetraponera ants trim neighbouring plants to prevent any intrusion of other ants or caterpillars from those plants and to reduce resource competition for their host. Tetraponera species only leave their myrmecophyte to start a new colony on a different host; a queen and a number of workers leave the old host plant to allow the colony to continue to expand.
Tetraponera, like most ants, has one or a few queens that are the only females to reproduce in a colony. The sterile workers are all females that forage for food and defend the colony. Males are produced only during certain times of the year and disperse to mate with virgins queens from other colonies. Since ants are haplodiploid, they can control what sex their offspring will be; an unfertilised egg will become a male, while a fertilised egg will be female. This reliably restricts the production of male alates to the species' mating season, when the winged virgin queens and males fly from their home colonies to mate and start new colonies.
The eggs produced by the queen hatch into larvae which are cared for inside the colony, protected from any predators by the workers. The amount of care each female larva receives determines its fate as a worker or a new queen; all males are drones. When a new colony is formed, eggs are initially produced at a low rate, but this quickly increases in the second to fourth years, to ensure enough workers are produced to protect and provide for the growing colony.
Tetraponera is a genus of ants in the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae that are commonly known as slender ants and are characterized by their arboreal nature and slender bodies. The 96 described species of Tetraponera all of which live in hollow structures of plants and trees, such as thorns or branches; these hosts are known as myrmecophytes. Tetraponera species are closely related to the New World genus of ants Pseudomyrmex, but differ in their relationships with host plants.
