The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera:Formicidae)
Authors: WARD PHILIP S. , BRADY SEÁN G. , FISHER BRIAN L. , SCHULTZ TED R. 
Published: July 2014

This study investigates the evolutionary history of a hyperdiverse clade, the ant subfamilyMyrmicinae (Hymenoptera:Formicidae), based on analyses of a data matrix comprising 251 species and 11 nuclear gene fragments. Under both maximum likelihood andBayesian methods of inference, we recover a robust phylogeny that reveals six major clades ofMyrmicinae, here treated as newly defined tribes and occurring as a pectinate series:Myrmicini,Pogonomyrmecinitrib.n.,Stenammini,Solenopsidini,Attini andCrematogastrini. Because we condense the former 25 myrmicine tribes into a new six‐tribe scheme, membership in some tribes is now notably different, especially regardingAttini. We demonstrate that the monotypic genusAnkylomyrmais neither in theMyrmicinae nor even a member of the more inclusive formicoid clade—rather it is a poneroid ant, sister to the genusTatuidris(Agroecomyrmecinae). Several species‐rich myrmicine genera are shown to be nonmonophyletic, includingPogonomyrmex,Aphaenogaster,Messor,Monomorium,Pheidole,TemnothoraxandTetramorium. We propose a number of generic synonymies to partially alleviate these problems (senior synonym listed first):Pheidole=Anisopheidolesyn.n. = Machomyrmasyn.n.;Temnothorax=Chalepoxenussyn.n. = Myrmoxenussyn.n. = Protomognathussyn.n.;Tetramorium=Rhoptromyrmexsyn.n. = Anergatessyn.n.=Teleutomyrmexsyn.n.The genusVeromessorstat.r.is resurrected for theNewWorld species previously placed inMessor;Syllophopsisstat.r.is resurrected from synonymy underMonomoriumto contain the species in thehildebrandtigroup;Trichomyrmexstat.r.is resurrected from synonymy underMonomoriumto contain the species in thescabriceps‐ anddestructor‐groups; and the monotypic genusEpelysidrisstat.r.is reinstated forMonomorium brocha. Bayesian divergence dating indicates that the crown groupMyrmicinae originated about 98.6 Ma (95% highest probability density 87.9–109.6 Ma) but the six major clades are considerably younger, with age estimates ranging from 52.3 to 71.1 Ma. Although these and other suprageneric taxa arose mostly in the middleEocene or earlier, a number of prominent, species‐rich genera, such asPheidole,Cephalotes,Strumigenys,CrematogasterandTetramorium, have estimated crown group origins in the lateEocene orOligocene. Most myrmicine species diversity resides in the two sister clades,Attini andCrematogastrini, which are estimated to have originated and diversified extensively in theNeotropics andPaleotropics, respectively. The newly circumscribedMyrmicini isHolarctic in distribution, and ancestral range estimation suggests aNearctic origin. ThePogonomyrmecini andSolenopsidini are reconstructed as beingNeotropical in origin, but they have subsequently colonized theNearctic region (Pogonomyrmecini) and many parts of theOldWorld as well as theNearctic region (Solenopsidini), respectively. TheStenammini have flourished primarily in the northern hemisphere, and are most likely ofNearctic origin, but selected lineages have dispersed to the northernNeotropics and thePaleotropics. Thus the evolutionary history of theMyrmicinae has played out on a global stage over the last 100 Ma, with no single region being the principal generator of species diversity.

This published work has been registered in ZooBank,http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub: BB6829C4‐DA79‐45FE‐979E‐9749E237590E.