Aenictus is a large army ant genus distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics. It contains about 181 species, making it one of the larger ant genera of the world.
Biology and distribution The genus presently has 181 species, distributed through the East Mediterranean, Afrotropical, Oriental, Indo-Australian, and Australian regions.Brown WL Jr. (2000) Diversity of ants. In: Agosti et al. (Eds) Ants. standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Biological diversity hand book series. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London, 280 pp.Aktaç N, Radchenko AG, Kiran K (2004) On the taxonomy of the west Palaearctic Aenictinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annales Zoologici 54 (2): 361-364. Most of the species are tropical, with terrestrial habitats, foraging in soil, leaf litter, most of the Southeast Asian species forage on the ground, and some on trees and hunting other ant species and termites.
Most species of the genus are specialized predators of other ants, especially of immature stages.Gotwald WH (1995) Army ants: the Biology of Social Predation. Cornell University Press, New York, 320 pp.Rościszewski M, Maschwitz U (1994) Prey specialization of army ants of the genus Aenictus in Malaysia. Andrias 13: 179-187. Only some Asian species such as Aenictus gracilis, Aenictus laeviceps, Aenictus hodgsoni, and Aenictus paradentatus are known to hunt a variety of invertebrate prey, including ants, using a large number of workers in raids.Shattuck SO (2008) Review of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Australia with notes on A. ceylonicus (Mayr). Zootaxa 1926: 1-19.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. Foraging raids undertaken by these ants occur both day and night, usually across the ground surface but occasionally also in trees. During raids, numerous workers attack ant nests in a small area, with several workers coordinating their efforts to carry large prey items back to the nest or bivouac. Species of Aenictus are generally small, monomorphic and yellow to dark brown.
Species
Aenictus abeillei (André, 1886) Aenictus acerbus Shattuck, 2008 Aenictus aitkenii Forel, 1901 Aenictus alluaudi Santschi, 1910 Aenictus alticola Wheeler, 1930 Aenictus ambiguus Shuckard, 1840 Aenictus anceps Forel, 1910 Aenictus annae Forel, 1911 Aenictus appressipilosus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus arabicus Sharaf & Aldawood, 2012 Aenictus aratus Forel, 1900 Aenictus artipus Wilson, 1964 Aenictus arya Forel, 1901 Aenictus asantei Campione et al., 1983 Aenictus asperivalvus Santschi, 1919 Aenictus bakeri Menozzi, 1925 Aenictus baliensis Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus bayoni Menozzi, 1932 Aenictus bidentatus Donisthorpe, 1942 Aenictus binghamii Forel, 1900 Aenictus biroi Forel, 1907 Aenictus bobaiensis Zhou & Chen, 1999 Aenictus bodongjaya Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus boltoni Gómez, 2022 Aenictus bottegoi Emery, 1899 Aenictus breviceps Forel, 1912 Aenictus brevicornis (Mayr, 1879) Aenictus brevinodus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus brevipodus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus brutus Gómez et al., 2024 Aenictus buttelreepeni Forel, 1913 Aenictus buttgenbachi Forel, 1913 Aenictus camposi Wheeler & Chapman, 1925 Aenictus carolianus Zettel & Sorger, 2010 Aenictus certus Westwood, 1842 Aenictus ceylonicus (Mayr, 1866) Aenictus changmaianus Terayama & Kubota, 1993 Aenictus chapmani Wilson, 1964 Aenictus chittoorensis Sahoo et al., 2026 Aenictus clavatus Forel, 1901 Aenictus clavitibia Forel, 1901 Aenictus concavus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus congolensis Santschi, 1911 Aenictus cornutus Forel, 1900 Aenictus crucifer Santschi, 1914 Aenictus currax Emery, 1900 Aenictus cylindripetiolus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus decolor (Mayr, 1879) Aenictus dentatus Forel, 1911 Aenictus diclops Shattuck, 2008 Aenictus dirangensis Dhadwal & Bharti, 2023 Aenictus dlusskyi Arnol'di, 1968 Aenictus doryloides Wilson, 1964 Aenictus doydeei Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus duengkaei Jaitrong & Yamane, 2012 Aenictus eguchii Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus eugenii Emery, 1895 Aenictus exilis Wilson, 1964 Aenictus feae Emery, 1889 Aenictus fergusoni Forel, 1901 Aenictus foreli Santschi, 1919 Aenictus formosensis Forel, 1913 Aenictus fuchuanensis Zhou, 2001 Aenictus fulvus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus furculatus Santschi, 1919 Aenictus fuscipennis Forel, 1913 Aenictus fuscovarius Gerstäcker, 1859 Aenictus gibbosus Dalla Torre, 1893 Aenictus glabratus Jaitrong & Nur-Zati, 2010 Aenictus glabrinotum Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus gleadowii Forel, 1901 Aenictus gonioccipus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus gracilis Emery, 1893 Aenictus grandis Bingham, 1903 Aenictus guineensis Santschi, 1924 Aenictus gutianshanensis Staab, 2014 Aenictus hamifer Emery, 1896 Aenictus henanensis Li & Wang, 2005 Aenictus hilli Clark, 1928 Aenictus hitai Gómez, 2022 Aenictus hodgsoni Forel, 1901 Aenictus hoelldobleri Staab, 2015 Aenictus hottai Terayama & Yamane, 1989 Aenictus humeralis Santschi, 1910 Aenictus huonicus Wilson, 1964 Aenictus icarus Forel, 1911 Aenictus idoneus Menozzi, 1928 Aenictus inconspicuus Westwood, 1845 Aenictus indicus Bharti et al., 2012 Aenictus inflatus Yamane & Hashimoto, 1999 Aenictus itoi Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus jacki Gómez, 2022 Aenictus jacobsoni Forel, 1909 Aenictus jarujini Jaitrong & Yamane, 2010 Aenictus javanus Emery, 1896 Aenictus jawadwipa Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus kadalarensis Sahoo et al., 2023 Aenictus khaoyaiensis Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus kodaguensis Sahoo et al., 2024 Aenictus kodagura Shakur & Bagchi, 2024 Aenictus kodungallurensis Antony & Prasad, 2022 Aenictus koloi Gómez, 2022 Aenictus kutai Jaitrong & Wiwatwitaya, 2013 Aenictus laeviceps (Smith, 1857) Aenictus lankamallensis Sahoo et al., 2026 Aenictus latifemoratus Terayama & Yamane, 1989 Aenictus latiscapus Forel, 1901 Aenictus leliepvrei Bernard, 1953 Aenictus leptotyphlatta Jaitrong & Eguchi, 2010 Aenictus levior (Karavaiev, 1926) Aenictus lifuiae Terayama, 1984 Aenictus longi Forel, 1901 Aenictus longicephalus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus longinodus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2012 Aenictus luteus Emery, 1892 Aenictus luzoni Wheeler & Chapman, 1925 Aenictus malakkaparensis Antony & Prasad, 2022 Aenictus maneerati Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus mariae Emery, 1895 Aenictus mauritanicus Santschi, 1910 Aenictus mentu Weber, 1942 Aenictus minimus Jaitrong & Hashimoto, 2012 Aenictus minipetiolus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus minutulus Terayama & Yamane, 1989 Aenictus mocsaryi Emery, 1901 Aenictus moebii Emery, 1895 Aenictus montivagus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus mutatus Santschi, 1913 Aenictus mvuvii Gómez, 2022 Aenictus nesiotis Wheeler, 1930 Aenictus nganduensis Wilson, 1964 Aenictus nishimurai Terayama & Kubota, 1993 Aenictus nuchiti Jaitrong & Ruangsittichai, 2018 Aenictus nyuyi Gómez, 2022 Aenictus obscurus Smith, 1865 Aenictus orientalis (Karavaiev, 1926) Aenictus pachycerus (Smith, 1858) Aenictus pangantihoni Zettel & Sorger, 2010 Aenictus paradentatus Jaitrong et al., 2012 Aenictus parahuonicus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus peguensis Emery, 1895 Aenictus pfeifferi Zettel & Sorger, 2010 Aenictus pharao Santschi, 1924 Aenictus philiporum Wilson, 1964 Aenictus philippinensis Chapman, 1963 Aenictus piercei Wheeler, 1930 Aenictus pilosus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus pinkaewi Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus popeyei Gómez, 2022 Aenictus porizonoides Walker, 1860 Aenictus powersi Wheeler, 1930 Aenictus prolixus Shattuck, 2008 Aenictus pubescens Smith, 1859 Aenictus punctatus Jaitrong & Yamane, 2012 Aenictus punctiventris Emery, 1901 Aenictus punensis Forel, 1901 Aenictus rabori Chapman, 1963 Aenictus raptor Forel, 1913 Aenictus reyesi Chapman, 1963 Aenictus rhodiensis Menozzi, 1936 Aenictus rixator Emery, 1901 Aenictus rotundatus Mayr, 1901 Aenictus rotundicollis Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus rougieri André, 1893 Aenictus sagei Forel, 1901 Aenictus samungi Jaitrong & Ruangsittichai, 2018 Aenictus schneirlai Wilson, 1964 Aenictus shilintongae Jaitrong & Schultz, 2016 Aenictus shillongensis Mathew & Tiwari, 2000 Aenictus shuckardi Forel, 1901 Aenictus siamensis Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus sirenicus Yamane & Wang, 2015 Aenictus siamensis Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus sonchaengi Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus soudanicus Santschi, 1910 Aenictus spathifer Santschi, 1928 Aenictus steindachneri Mayr, 1901 Aenictus stenocephalus Jaitrong et al., 2010 Aenictus subterraneus Jaitrong & Hashimoto, 2012 Aenictus sulawesiensis Jaitrong & Wiwatwitaya, 2013 Aenictus sumatrensis Forel, 1913 Aenictus sundalandensis Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus susanae Gómez, 2022 Aenictus thailandianus Terayama & Kubota, 1993 Aenictus togoensis Santschi, 1915 Aenictus trigonus Forel, 1911 Aenictus turneri Forel, 1900 Aenictus ugaduwensis Gómez, 2022 Aenictus vagans Santschi, 1924 Aenictus vaucheri Emery, 1915 Aenictus vieti Jaitrong et al., 2010 Aenictus villiersi Bernard, 1953 Aenictus watanasiti Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus wayani Jaitrong & Yamane, 2011 Aenictus weissi Santschi, 1910 Aenictus westwoodi Forel, 1901 Aenictus wilaiae Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus wilsoni Bharti et al., 2012 Aenictus wiwatwitayai Jaitrong & Yamane, 2013 Aenictus wroughtonii Forel, 1890 Aenictus wudangshanensis Wang, 2006 Aenictus xegi Gómez, 2022 Aenictus yamanei Wiwatwitaya & Jaitrong, 2011 Aenictus yangi Liu et al., 2015 Aenictus zhengi Zhang, 1995
References
External links