Paraparatrechina
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| Paraparatrechina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Paraparatrechina minutula | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Tribe: | Lasiini |
| Genus: | Paraparatrechina Donisthorpe, 1947 |
| Type species | |
| Paratrechina pallida Donisthorpe, 1947 | |
| Species[1] | |
Paraparatrechina is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Formicinae.[2] The genus contains 39 species[1] distributed in the tropics of Africa, Asia and Australia.
The genus is restricted to the Paleotropics. Thirteen species are known from the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions, and twenty-five species and subspecies from Asia and Australia, although preliminary study suggests that there are many undescribed species.[3] Very little is known about the biology of Paraparatrechina in the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions. They have been found in a wide range of tropical habitats from rainforests to forest clearings in sifted leaf litter, rotten logs, under stones, and from beating vegetation and fogging samples from the forest canopy.[3]
Taxonomy
Paraparatrechina was first described as a subgenus of Paratrechina by Donisthorpe (1947).[4] LaPolla et al. (2010a) elevated the formerly synonymized subgenus to genus rank based on both morphological and molecular data.[5]
Description
Paraparatrechina are small (typically around 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) in total length) formicine ants, which often reflect a metallic iridescence (blue, purple and pink hues have been observed) under light microscopy. In darker species, the iridescence tends to be a darker bluish-purple, while lighter colored species either show little iridescence or reflect a more pinkish-purple hue. Paraparatrechina are usually easily distinguishable from other formicine genera by a unique mesosomal setal pattern: two pairs of erect setae on the pronotum, one pair on the mesonotum and one pair on the propodeum. Nylanderia, the genus most likely confused with Paraparatrechina, never possesses a pair of erect setae on the propodeum. The mandibles of Paraparatrechina also possess five teeth, while in Nylanderia six teeth are usually present.[3]
