Leptanilla is a genus of ant in the subfamily Leptanillinae. Like other genera in this subfamily, the queen is fed by the hemolymph of their own larvae, which have specialized processes for this purpose.
Biology
Some species form colonies consisting of several hundred workers in the soil. They feed on small arthropods, including centipedes, and are rarely seen because they live underground and rarely come to the surface. In some species the queen is wingless, and new colonies form by budding from established colonies. Others have a nomadic life-style resembling that of army ants.
Description
Leptanilla workers have no eyes, and are pale, yellow, and small.
Distribution
Several species are found in North Africa, L. doderoi and L. revelierei in Corsica and Sardinia, L. havilandi and L. butteli in the Malay Peninsula, L. santschii in Java. L. swani and L. voldemort are the only two Australian species that have been described.
Species
- Leptanilla acherontia <small>Griebenow, 2024</small>
- Leptanilla africana <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla alexandri <small>Dlussky, 1969</small>
- Leptanilla anomala <small>(Brues, 1925)</small>
- Leptanilla argamani <small>(Kugler, 1987)</small>
- Leptanilla astylina <small>Petersen, 1968</small>
- Leptanilla australis <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla beijingensis <small>Qian et al., 2024</small>
- Leptanilla belantan <small>Griebenow et al., 2024</small>
- Leptanilla belantanoides <small>Griebenow et al., 2025</small>
- Leptanilla besucheti <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla bethyloides <small>Griebenow et al., 2024</small>
- Leptanilla bifurcata <small>Kugler, 1987</small>
- Leptanilla boltoni <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla buddhista <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla butteli <small>Forel, 1913</small>
- Leptanilla charonea <small>Barandica et al., 1994</small>
- Leptanilla clypeata <small>Yamane & Ito, 2001</small>
- Leptanilla copiosa <small>(Petersen, 1968)</small>
- Leptanilla dehongensis <small>Qian et al., 2024</small>
- Leptanilla doderoi <small>Emery, 1915</small>
- Leptanilla escheri <small>(Kutter, 1948)</small>
- Leptanilla exigua <small>Santschi, 1908</small>
- Leptanilla fuminorii <small>Sasaki & Yamane, 2026</small>
- Leptanilla havilandi <small>Forel, 1901</small>
- Leptanilla hunanensis <small>Tang et al., 1992</small>
- Leptanilla hypodracos <small>Wong & Guénard, 2016</small>
- Leptanilla indica <small>(Kugler, 1987)</small>
- Leptanilla islamica <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla israelis <small>Kugler, 1987</small>
- Leptanilla japonica <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla javana <small>(Wheeler & Wheeler, 1930)</small>
- Leptanilla judaica <small>Kugler, 1987</small>
- Leptanilla kebunraya <small>Yamane & Ito, 2001</small>
- Leptanilla kubotai <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla kunmingensis <small>Xu & Zhang, 2002</small>
- Leptanilla lamellata <small>Bharti & Kumar, 2012</small>
- Leptanilla laventa <small>(Griebenow et al., 2022)</small>
- Leptanilla macauensis <small>Leong et al., 2018</small>
- Leptanilla minuscula <small>Santschi, 1907</small>
- Leptanilla morimotoi <small>Yasumatsu, 1960</small>
- Leptanilla najaphalla <small>Griebenow et al., 2024</small>
- Leptanilla nana <small>Santschi, 1915</small>
- Leptanilla oceanica <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla okinawensis <small>Terayama, 2013</small>
- Leptanilla ortunoi <small>López et al., 1994</small>
- Leptanilla palauensis <small>(Smith, 1953)</small>
- Leptanilla phthirigyna <small>Griebenow et al., 2025</small>
- Leptanilla plutonia <small>López et al., 1994</small>
- Leptanilla poggii <small>Mei, 1995</small>
- Leptanilla qinlingensis <small>Griebenow et al., 2024</small>
- Leptanilla revelierii <small>Emery, 1870</small>
- Leptanilla sapa <small>Yamada, 2025</small>
- Leptanilla santschii <small>Wheeler & Wheeler, 1930</small>
- Leptanilla sichuanensis <small>Zhong, 2024</small>
- Leptanilla swani <small>Wheeler, 1932</small>
- Leptanilla taiwanensis <small>Ogata et al., 1995</small>
- Leptanilla tanakai <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla tanit <small>Santschi, 1907</small>
- Leptanilla tenuis <small>Santschi, 1907</small>
- Leptanilla thai <small>Baroni Urbani, 1977</small>
- Leptanilla theryi <small>Forel, 1903</small>
- Leptanilla ujjalai <small>Saroj et al., 2022</small>
- Leptanilla vaucheri <small>Emery, 1899</small>
- Leptanilla voldemort <small>Wong & McRae, 2024</small>
- Leptanilla yunnanensis <small>Xu, 2002</small>
- Leptanilla zaballosi <small>Barandica et al., 1994</small>
References
External links