Ant Taxonomy Genus- Linepithema

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About Genus Linepithema

Linepithema

Linepithema is a well-known genus of tiny ants belonging to the subfamily Dolichoderinae.

Many scientists specialized in studying this genus have identified that its native distribution can extend from northern Mexico, as well as east to the Caribbean and finally south to northern Argentina.

Unfortunately, human activity has had a direct impact on this genera, leading to the extinction of 2 species:

• L. iniquum
• L. humile.

The latter is better known as the Argentine ant, an invasive species with a notable presence in Mediterranean climates. Linepithema species are found from sea level to 4,000 meters above sea level in the Andes.

The genus has recently been revised by Wild (2007) and species determinations are quite straightforward using the available keys. Linepithema ants are a common but often disregarded element of the Neotropical myrmecofauna. These little, monomorphic dolichoderine ants are aboriginal to a sort of forest, grassland, and montane habitats in Central and South America and the Caribbean. The genus is widely identified for the pestiferous Argentine ant Linepithema humile, an insect that has obtained significant awareness for its invasive behavior in Mediterranean climates around the world (Roura-Pascual et al. 2004), but Linepithema also incorporates about twenty species. Additionally, some of them are locally plentiful, about which little is comprehended. (Savage 2007).

Subfamilies Of Ants