Romblonella facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Romblonella |
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| R. opaca worker | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
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| Order: | |
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| Subfamily: |
Myrmicinae
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| Tribe: |
Crematogastrini
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| Genus: |
Romblonella
Wheeler, 1935
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| Type species | |
| Rombonella grandinodis Wheeler, 1935
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| Diversity | |
| 8 species | |
Romblonella is a special group of tiny ants. They belong to a family called Formicidae. These ants are quite rare. Scientists don't know much about them yet. They are mostly found in warm, tropical places.
Contents
Ant Family Tree
Romblonella ants have some close relatives. They are like a "sister group" to another ant group called Stereomyrmex. This means they share a common ancestor. Other ants that are somewhat related include Leptothorax and Cardiocondyla.
What We Know About Them
Very little is known about these uncommon ants. Most species have been found nesting inside small branches on trees. They also look for food on low plants and bushes.
Meet the Romblonella Ants
Workers of one species, R. opaca, are about 4 mm long. That's about the size of a small grain of rice. They have a small sting. R. opaca was first described from four ants found on Romblon Island in the Philippines. This was done by a scientist named Wheeler in 1935.
However, this ant had actually been described earlier! Another scientist, F. Smith, described it in 1861. He called it Myrmica opaca. Those ants were collected in Sulawesi, Indonesia, by Alfred Russel Wallace.
Another species, R. elysii, has workers that are only 2 mm long. They were first thought to be a different type of ant. R. heatwolei workers are almost 4 mm long, similar to R. opaca.
Only the male ants of R. palauensis and R. heatwolei have been described by scientists so far.
Where They Live
Romblonella ants are found in a wide area. They live from the Philippines down through New Guinea. One species is even known from Australia. Their home range stretches out to the islands of the western South Pacific.
How They Got Their Name
The genus Romblonella is named after the place where the first type of this ant was found. That place is Romblon Island in the Philippines.
Types of Romblonella Ants
There are eight known species in the Romblonella group:
- Romblonella elysii (Mann, 1919) — Found in the Solomon Islands.
- Romblonella heatwolei Taylor, 1991 — Found in Queensland, Australia.
- Romblonella opaca (F. Smith, 1861) — Found in the Philippines and Indonesia.
- Romblonella palauensis M. R. Smith, 1953 — Found in Palau in the Caroline Islands.
- Romblonella scrobifera (Emery, 1897) — Found in various parts of New Guinea.
- Romblonella townesi M. R. Smith, 1953 — Found on Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Romblonella vitiensis M. R. Smith, 1953 — Found on Wakaya Island in the Fiji Islands.
- Romblonella yapensis M. R. Smith, 1953 — Found on Yap Island in the Caroline Islands.
Images for kids
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Specimen of a Romblonella opaca
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Specimen of a Romblonella palauensis
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Specimen of a Romblonella scrobifera
