Aenictus Shuckard, 1840

Shattuck, Steven O., 2008, Review of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Australia with notes on A. ceylonicus (Mayr), Zootaxa 1926, pp. 1-19 : 3

Aenictus Shuckard, 1840

Aenictus Shuckard, 1840: 266 .

Typhlatta Smith, 1857: 79 (synonym of Aenictus by Forel, 1890: ciii; removed from synonymy as subgenus of Aenictus by Wheeler,1930: 198; synonym of Aenictus by Wilson, 1964: 444). Type species. Aenictus : Aenictus ambiguus Shuckard, 1860 , by original designation. Typhlatta : Typhlatta laeviceps Smith , by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Workers of Aenictus may be separated from other Australian ants by their moderately small size (less than about 4 mm), lack of eyes, long slender bodies and long legs. They are superficially similar to some myrmicines but differ in lacking the frontal lobes and in having the antennal sockets completely visible when viewed from the front (myrmicines have frontal lobes that are expanded towards the sides of the head and partly cover the antennal sockets). Some of the smaller, paler species are also similar to Leptanilla workers, but differ in being larger and only ten segments in the antennae rather than 12, and lacking a flexible promesonotal suture.

Males of Aenictus can be separated from those of other Australian ants by the exposed antennal sockets and lack of a postpetiole (the gaster is smooth and lacks a constriction between the first and second segments).