ASIAN
MYRMECOLOGY
Image: François Brassard
online first (online version of paper published before print issue)
DOI: 10.20362/am.019004
Asian Myrmecology 19: 019004 (1-10)
article first published online: 12/Febraury/2026
Description of a new species of the ant genus Leptanilla (Formicidae: Leptanillinae) with a putative non-dichthadiiform ergatoid queen from Okinawa-jima Island, Japan
HAJIME SASAKI1* & SEIKI YAMANE2
Abstract:
The subfamily Leptanillinae represents a basal lineage within Formicidae, and the biology of most of its members remains poorly understood due to their cryptic nature and small bodysize. Here, we describe Leptanilla fuminorii sp. nov., a species from Okinawa-jima Island, Japan. The worker and queen are characterized by a clypeus with a median lobe and a pair of lateral lobes, and postpetiole markedly higher than petiole in lateral view in the worker. Morphologically, L. fuminorii sp. nov. closely resembles L. boltoni Baroni Urbani, 1977, from Ghana, but differs in its larger size and in the structure of the clypeus and postpetiolar sternite. The colony (type series) found at approximately 15cm depth in forest soil was composed of 352 workers, 207 larvae, and a single queen. The larvae were actively feeding on a centipede Strigamia sp., consistent with the previously reported diet of the genus. Queen-worker dimorphism is remarkably low compared to other species. This discovery enhances our understanding of Leptanilla diversity.
Keywords:
Leptanilla, new species, Okinawa, queen-worker dimorphism, taxonomy.
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HAJIME SASAKI1* & SEIKI YAMANE2
Abstract:
The subfamily Leptanillinae represents a basal lineage within Formicidae, and the biology of most of its members remains poorly understood due to their cryptic nature and small bodysize. Here, we describe Leptanilla fuminorii sp. nov., a species from Okinawa-jima Island, Japan. The worker and queen are characterized by a clypeus with a median lobe and a pair of lateral lobes, and postpetiole markedly higher than petiole in lateral view in the worker. Morphologically, L. fuminorii sp. nov. closely resembles L. boltoni Baroni Urbani, 1977, from Ghana, but differs in its larger size and in the structure of the clypeus and postpetiolar sternite. The colony (type series) found at approximately 15cm depth in forest soil was composed of 352 workers, 207 larvae, and a single queen. The larvae were actively feeding on a centipede Strigamia sp., consistent with the previously reported diet of the genus. Queen-worker dimorphism is remarkably low compared to other species. This discovery enhances our understanding of Leptanilla diversity.
Keywords:
Leptanilla, new species, Okinawa, queen-worker dimorphism, taxonomy.
Get PDF (3.3 MB) :
1Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Miki, Kagawa 761-0795, Japan.
2Haruyama-chô 1054-1, Kagoshima-shi, 899-2704, Japan.
*Corresponding author: s22a060@kagawa-u.ac.jp
