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species
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Aphaenogaster minutula
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Japanese Name
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Hime-ashinaga-ari
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Original Reference
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Watanabe, H. & Yamane, S. (1999) New species and new status in the genus Aphaenogaster (Formicidae) from Japan. In: Identification Guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, pp. 732-733, Hokkaido Univ. Press, Sapporo.
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Description
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Total length of workers 3.5-5 mm. Body yellowish brown, with head (excepting mandibles) and mesosoma slightly darker. Antennal club pale in color. This species is distinguished from its close relatives (A. concolor, A. luteipes and A. kumejimana) by the smaller body size, 4-segmented maxillary palp (5-segmented in the other species), and the chromosome number 2n=28.
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Remarks
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A. minutula nests in relatively open sites in forests and at forest edges. Nests are excavated in the soil, with a distinctive pile of wood chips around each entrance.
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Distribution
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Nansei Is (Amami-oshima I. to Okinawa I., Senkaku Is).
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References
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- Yamane & Ikudome (1999)
- Watanabe & Yamane (1999)
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Editor
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Original text by Hirofumi Watanabe and Seiki Yamane. English translation by Kazuo Ogata, edited by Robert W. Taylor.
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