Abstract
The genus Aenictus is a diverse group of army ants in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The worker-based Aenictus piercei species group of Jaitrong and Yamane (2011) is redefined and renamed here as the Aenictus minutulus group. Aenictus piercei Wheeler et Chapman, 1930 and A. lifuiae Terayama, 1984 are removed from this group; the former is moved to the A. javanus group and the latter to the A. ceylonicus group. The Southeast Asian species of the group are revised to include six species: Aenictus changmaianus Terayama et Kubota, 1993, Aenictus sp.56 of WJT, A. minimus sp. nov., A. minutulus Terayama et Yamane, 1989, A. peguensis Emery, 1895 and A. subterraneus sp. nov. Aenictus changmaianus, A. minimus and A. peguensis are probably restricted to the seasonal forest located northward from the Isthmus of Kra, while A. minutulus, A. subterraneus and Aenictus sp.56 of WJT are obviously Sundaland species inhabiting the perhumid evergreen rainforest.
References
Bolton, B. (1994) Identification Guide to the Ant Genera of the World. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 222 pp.
Bolton, B. (1995) A New General Catalogue of the Ants of the World. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 504 pp.
Emery, C. (1895) Viaggio di Leonardo Fea in Birmania e regioni vicine. 63. Formiche di Birmania, del Tenasserim e dei Monti Carin, raccolte da L. Fea. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, (2)14, 450–483.
Gotwald, W.H. (1995) Army ants: the Biology of Social Predation. Cornell University Press, New York, 320 pp
Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E.O. (1990) The Ants. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 733 pp.
Jaitrong, W. & Nur-Zati, A.M. (2010) A new species of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae) from the Malay Peninsula. Sociobiology, (2)56, 449–454.
Jaitrong, W. & Yamane, Sk. (2010) The army ant Aenictus silvestrii and its related species in Southeast Asia, with a description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae). Entomological Science, 13, 328–333.
Jaitrong, W., Yamane, Sk. & Wiwatwitaya, D. (2010) The army ant Aenictus wroughtonii (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae) and related species in the Oriental Region, with descriptions of two new species. Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology, 16, 33–46.
Jaitrong, W. & Yamane, Sk. (2011) Synopsis of Aenictus species groups and revision of the A. currax and A. laeviceps groups in the eastern Oriental, Indo-Australian, and Australasian regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae). Zootaxa, 3128, 1–46.
Jaitrong, W. & Yamane, Sk. (2012) Review of the Southeast Asian species of the Aenictus javanus and Aenictus philippinensis species groups (Hymenoptera, Formicinae, Aenictinae). ZooKeys, 193, 49–78.
Jaitrong, W., Yamane, Sk. & Tasen, W. (2012) A sibling species of Aenictus dentatus Forel, 1911 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from continental Southeast Asia. Myrmecological News, 16, 133–138.
Shattuck, S.O. (2008) Review of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Australia with notes on A. ceylonicus (Mayr). Zootaxa, 1926, 1–19.
Terayama, M. & Kubota, A. (1993) The army ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Thailand and Vietnam, with descriptions of three new species. Bulletin of the Biogeographical Society of Japan, (2)48, 68–72.
Terayama, M. & Yamane, S. (1989) The army ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicinae) from Sumatra, with descriptions of three new species. Japanese Journal of Entomology, (3)57, 597–603.
Wilson, E.O. (1964) The true army ants of the Indo-Australian area (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dorylinae). Pacific Insects, (3)6, 427–483.
Wiwatwitaya, D. & Jaitrong, W. (2011) The army ant Aenictus hottai (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae) and related species in Southeast Asia, with a description of a new species. Sociobiology, 58, 557–565.
Woodruff, D.S. (2003) The locality of the Indochinese-Sundaic biogeographic transition in plants and birds. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society, 51, 97–108.
Yamane, Sk. & Hashimoto, Y. (1999) A remarkable new species of the army ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) with a polymorphic caste. Tropics, (4)8, 427–432.