Prenolepis

LaPolla, J. S., Brady, S. G. & Shattuck, S. O., 2010, Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Prenolepis genus-group of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)., Systematic Entomology 35, pp. 118-131 : 129

Prenolepis

Figures of worker. Head: Fig. 5F; mesosoma: Fig. 6F; mandible: Fig. 7E.

Synopsis of taxonomic history (for full description see Bolton et al., 2006): Prenolepis Mayr, 1861: 52 . Type species: Tapinoma nitens , by subsequent designation of Bingham, 1903: 325.

Diagnosis. Mandible with 5 to 7 teeth (in Pr. kohli up to 8 teeth observed in some specimens); maxillary palps 6- segmented; labial palps 4-segmented; erect setae on dorsum of head randomly placed; with erect setae on scapes, legs and dorsum of mesosoma, including propodeum. Eyes well developed, often strongly convex, and placed posteriorly on the head. Mesothorax constricted immediately behind pronotum; propodeum with a high-domed dorsal face, with entire propodeum often distinctly rounded in overall shape; overall mesosoma shape long and slender.

Distribution. (Fig. 9B). Prenolepis has a curious distribution, with a wide-ranging species found in North America, one species known from southern Europe and Anatolia and three species from Cuba (although see below), but the genus reaches its highest species diversity levels in southeastern Asia and southern China. One species is found in the rainforests of West Africa.

Notes. Recent descriptive work ( Xu, 1995; Zhou & Zheng, 1998; Fontenla, 2000; Zhou, 2001) has expanded this genus to 35 species and subspecies. However, this genus is in need of global taxonomic revision and caution is advised before further species are described within it. In fact, the monophyly of the genus may be in question.

The Antillean Prenolepis (Pr. albimaculata (Cuba only), Pr. gibberosa (Cuba and Haiti) and Pr. karstica (Cuba only)) possess 5 teeth, and although we retain them provisionally within Prenolepis our phylogenetic results suggest that they may represent a separate lineage within the Prenolepis genus-group(Fig. 3). This result was also suggested by Fontenla (2000) in his morphologically based phylogenetic analysis of the genus. The three Antillean species possess ocelli, whereas all other species (with the exception of the Asian Pr. naorojii) do not. This character may be of phylogenetic importance. It is also interesting to note that an undescribed fossil of an Antillean Prenolepis species from Dominican amber possesses five teeth and ocelli (LaPolla, in preparation). Given our limited taxon sampling in this group, however, any taxonomic decisions regarding the generic status of the Antillean species requires further investigation.

Another interesting species is Pr. kohli , which we are transferring to Prenolepis from Paratrechina . This is an African species described from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and it has a number of morphological traits that suggest that it belongs in Prenolepis . Among these characters are: (i) a mesothoracic constriction immediately behind the pronotum (although not as pronounced as in other species); (ii) mandibles with more than six teeth (up to eight in some specimens, although the eighth tooth is usually very small and found on the inner mandibular margin); (iii) striations across the mandibles as seen in most Prenolepis species; (iv) very long scapes that surpass the posterior margin of the head by more than half their length; (v) eyes convex, placed posterior to the midline of the head; and (vi) the propodeum with very high-domed shaped dorsal face. This is the only Prenolepis known from Africa. It is to be hoped that in the future molecular data can be gathered from this species to examine whether or not this placement is correct.

The following name is a comb. rev. in Prenolepis from Paratrechina : kohli .