mjobergi †Leptomyrmex neotropicus Leptomyrmex niger Leptomyrmex nigriceps Leptomyrmex nigriventris Leptomyrmex pallens Leptomyrmex puberulus Leptomyrmex rothneyi Leptomyrmex ruficeps Leptomyrmex rufipes Leptomyrmex rufithorax Leptomyrmex tibialis Leptomyrmex unicolor Leptomyrmex varians Leptomyrmex wiburdi Evolution With exception of the South American species Leptomyrmex relictus, the Leptomyrmex species are currently confined to eastern Australia and several nearby Pacific islands. However, the discovery of fossil specimens from the Dominican Republic (20 my) and a supposedly related genus, Leptomyrmula, from Sicily (30 my) led Wilson to describe the evolutionary history of this genus as a "considerable biogeographic anomaly". The assertion that extant species of Leptomyrmex are relicts of a lineage once widespread across the globe that have survived in the tropical refuges of Australasia, is compelling, and similar biogeographic patterns are seen in other so-called "relictual" lineages in Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia (among them the ant subfamily Myrmeciinae). The sister group relationship of the winged micro-Leptomyrmex to the wingless macro- clade suggests that the loss of wings may have occurred relatively recently in this lineage, and that stem lineages may not necessarily have been wingless. These observations, in addition to the fact that the sister group of Leptomyrmex (i.e., (Forelius + Dorymyrmex)) also has winged queens, may help explain the proposed widespread former distribution. On the other hand, a recent molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Dolichoderinae places Leptomyrmex firmly within a clade of species (tribe Leptomyrmecini) whose origins appears to be in the Neotropics, with two main dispersal events to Australia. This suggests that the Sicilian fossil Leptomyrmula is not part of this group. References </ref> External links Dolichoderinae Ant genera Hymenoptera of Australia Hymenoptera of Asia