Leptanillinae Ant Phylogeny and Male Descriptions from UCE Data

68 described species of cryptic subterranean ants from the Old World tropics and warm temperate regions are studied. The phylogeny is inferred from ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) using maximum-likelihood, enabling the first published description of male ants in the Anomalomyrmini tribe. This dataset, associated with research from the University of California, Davis, provides a male-based diagnosis and dichotomous key for the subfamily.

Use Cases

• Phylogenetic analysis of ant relationships based on ultra-conserved element (UCE) data.
• Taxonomic classification and key generation based on male morphological descriptions.
• Resolving parallel taxonomy by associating separately collected male and worker specimens through genomic data.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific, enigmatic ant subfamily (Leptanillinae) with 68 described species.
• Uses genome-scale data (ultra-conserved elements) for phylogenomic inference.
• Provides the first male-based diagnosis for the two established tribes within Leptanillinae.

Limitations

• Row count and specific data format are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect a geographic bias inherent to the study, being restricted to the Old World.

Provenance

Source

Zachary Griebenow, University of California, Davis

Collection Method

Phylogenetic inference from ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) using maximum-likelihood, with emphasis on male specimens.

Geography

Old World tropics and warm temperate regions, including Okinawa-jima, Japan.