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genus
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Discothyrea
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Japanese Name
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Daruma-ari-zoku
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Original Reference
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Roger, J. (1863) Die neu aufgefŸhrten Gattungen und Arten meines Formiciden-Verzeichnisses, nebst ErgŠnzung einiger frŸher gegeben Beschreibungen. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 7: 131-214.
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Synonym
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Prodiscothyrea Wheeler, W. M., 1916,
Pseudosysphincta Arnold, 1916,
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Description
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Small, stocky ants. Antennae 6 - 12 segmented (8 or 9 segments in Japanese species); apical segment large, longer than the other funicular segments together. Antennal scrobes developed. Eyes relatively small. Sutures absent on thoracic dorsum. Gaster with first and second tergites swollen, and with posterior tip directed anteroventrally, as in Proceratium. In Japanese species the mandibles are covered by a protruding clypeal shelf which carries the antennae.
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Remarks
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Discothyrea species live in the ground layer of evergreen forests etc., and nest in rotting fallen trees, rotting stumps, or directly in the soil. They are said to eat arthropod eggs (Brown, 1958b). The genus is widely distributed in temperate and tropical zones of the globe, except for the Palearctic Region and Madagascar. There are 27 described species (Brown, 1958a). Only one, D. sauteri, was included in "A List of the Ants of Japan with Common Japanese Names (1988)", but we now recognize a second Japanese species, D. kamiteta.
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References
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- Brown, W. L., Jr. (1958b. ). Contribution toward a reclassification of the Formicidae II. Tribe Ectatommini. . Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, 118, 173-362.
- Brown, W. L., Jr. (1958c. ). Predation of arthoropod eggs by the ant genera Proceratium and Discothyrea. . Psyche, 64, 115.
- Arnold, G. 1916. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part II. Ponerinae, Dorylinae. Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 14: 159-270.
- Wheeler, W. M. 1916. Prodiscothyrea, a new genus of ponerine ants from Queensland. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 40: 33-37.
- Die neu aufgefŸhrten Gattungen und Arten meines Formiciden-Verzeichnisses, nebst ErgŠnzung einiger frŸher gegeben Beschreibungen. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 7: 131-214.
- Myrmecological Society of Japan, Editorial Committee (ed.) (Ed.). (1988). A list of the ants of Japan with common Japanese names. The Myrmecological Society of Japan, Tokyo.
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Editor
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Original text by Keiichi Onoyama and Mamoru Terayama. Revised by Masashi Yoshimura. English translation by Keiichi Onoyama, edited by Robert W. Taylor.
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