Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Platythyrea

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Social Insects

  • 80 Accesses

The subfamily ant Ponerinae comprises two tribes, Platythyreini and Ponerini. The Platythyreini consist of a single genus, Platythyrea, with 39 described extant species. These show a remarkable variability in colony structure [1, 2].

Platythyrea are characterized by their broad, shield-shaped petiole (hence the genus name: Greek Πλατύς (broad, flat) and θυρεός (shield-shaped). They are medium to large ants, 4–20 mm in body length [2]. Workers have an elongate body covered with pruinose sculpturing. In addition, they feature a broad clypeal insertion, widely spaced frontal lobes, and two pectinate spurs on the metatibiae [2]. Coloration varies between species from yellowish-red to brownish and black. Typical colonies range in size from a few dozen to a few hundred workers (e.g., P. punctata, 9–161 workers; P. lamellosa, 18–276 workers) [2]. The genus contains both terrestrial and (unusual for Ponerinae) many arboreal species. Most members of this genus have a pantropical distribution...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Phengsi, N., Jaitrong, W., Ruangsittichai, J., & Khachonpisitsak, S. (2018). A sibling species of Platythyrea clypeata Forel, 1911 in Southeast Asia (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae). ZooKeys, 729, 87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Schmidt, C. A., & Shattuck, S. O. (2014). The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa, 3817, 1–242.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Aria, C., Perrichot, V., & Nel, A. (2011). Fossil Ponerinae in early Eocene amber in France. Zootaxa, 2870, 53–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Djiéto-Lordon, C., Orivel, J., & Dejean, A. (2001). Consuming large prey on the spot: The case of the arboreal foraging ponerine ant Platythyrea modesta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux, 48, 324–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dejean, A., & Suzzoni, J. P. (1997). Surface tension strengths in the service of a Ponerine ant: A new kind of nectar transport. Naturwissenschaften, 84, 76–79.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ito, F. (2016). Nesting and reproductive biology of Platythyrea sp. (parallela-group) in the Bogor botanic gardens, West Java, Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Asian Myrmecology, 8, 111–117.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Parmentier, T., Yéo, K., Dekoninck, W., & Wenseleers, T. (2017). An apparent mutualism between Afrotropical ant species sharing the same nest. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 71, 46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Yéo, K., Molet, M., & Peeters, C. (2006). When David and Goliath share a home: Compound nesting of Pyramica and Platythyrea ants. Insectes Sociaux, 53, 435–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Villet, M. H. (1993). Co-occurrence of mated workers and a mated queen in a colony of Platythyrea arnoldi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). South African Journal of Zoology, 28, 56–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Villet, M. H. (1991). Reproduction and division of labour in Platythyrea cf. cribrinodis (Gerstaecker 1858) (Hymenoptera Formicidae): Comparisons of individuals, colonies and species. Tropical Zoology, 4, 209–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Molet, M., & Peeters, C. (2006). Evolution of wingless reproductives in ants: Weakly specialized ergatoid queen instead of gamergates in Platythyrea conradti. Insectes Sociaux, 53, 177–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Seal, J. N., Kellner, K., Trindl, A., & Heinze, J. (2011). Phylogeography of the parthenogenic ant Platythyrea punctata: Highly successful colonization of the West Indies by a poor disperser. Journal of Biogeography, 38, 868–882.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Hartmann, A., Wantia, J., Torres, J. A., & Heinze, J. (2003). Worker policing without genetic conflicts in a clonal ant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 100, 12836–12840.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bernadou, A., Schrader, L., Pable, J., Hoffacker, E., Meusemann, K., & Heinze, J. (2018). Stress and early experience underlie dominance status and division of labour in a clonal insect. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 285, 20181468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kellner, K., Barth, B., & Heinze, J. (2010). Colony fusion causes within-colony variation in a parthenogenetic ant. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 64, 737–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kellner, K., & Heinze, J. (2011). Absence of nepotism in genetically heterogeneous colonies of a clonal ant. Ethology, 117, 556–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Brunner, E., Kellner, K., & Heinze, J. (2009). Policing and dominance behaviour in the parthenogenetic ant Platythyrea punctata. Animal Behaviour, 78, 1427–1431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Abel Bernadou

Authors
  1. Abel Bernadou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abel Bernadou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of the West Indies, Department of Life Sciences University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Christopher Starr

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Bernadou, A. (2020). Platythyrea. In: Starr, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_97-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_97-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90306-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90306-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation