Dolichoderus

Dolichoderus is a genus of ants found worldwide.

Taxonomy
The ants of the Neotropical genus Monacis were revised in 1959 by Kempf. However, Brown in 1973 and G. C. Wheeler and J. Wheeler in 1973 and 1976 considered both Monacis and Hypoclinea to be junior synonyms of Dolichoderus.

Description
The type species is Dolichoderus attelaboides. Worker ants in this genus have a body length that is typically about four millimetres and can be recognised by their thick, inflexible and strongly sculptured integument. There is a flange on the underside of the head near the base of the mandibles which is saw-like in some species. The longitudinal suture in the central plate of the metathorax is deeply impressed. The propodeum or first abdominal segment has the posterior face distinctly concave when viewed from the side. The gaster and alitrunk are separated by a single segment, the petiole. The orifice of the cloaca is a horizontal slit rather than a circular opening. It is surrounded by a few rather stiff erect bristles.

Distribution
Members of this genus are found worldwide, in all the continents except Antarctica.

Biology
Colonies are of varying sizes and are constructed in the soil, in curled leaves, in the hollow stems of plants and in cartons which are formed by the ants chewing wood and mixing the product with secretions in a similar way to that used by wasps to build their nests. Some species are very versatile with Dolichoderus pustulatus nesting underground in northern parts of the United States while living wholly in trees in the south. The workers seek out and tend sap-sucking insects such as aphids and scale insects that excrete honeydew and they also feed on small arthropods. Some species emit a pungent smelling fluid. Two species, Dolichoderus plagiatus and Dolichoderus taschenbergi, are believed to be polygynous with several queens in one nest. It is also possible that D. taschenbergi may be a temporary social parasite with D. plagiatus as host.

Species

 * Dolichoderus abruptus (Smith, 1858)
 * †Dolichoderus affectus Théobald, 1937
 * Dolichoderus affinis Emery, 1889
 * Dolichoderus albamaculus Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * Dolichoderus andinus (Kempf, 1962)
 * Dolichoderus angusticornis Clark, 1930
 * †Dolichoderus antiquus Carpenter, 1930
 * Dolichoderus attelaboides (Fabricius, 1775)
 * Dolichoderus australis André, 1896
 * Dolichoderus baenae MacKay, 1993
 * †Dolichoderus balticus (Mayr, 1868)
 * Dolichoderus beccarii Emery, 1887
 * Dolichoderus bidens (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Dolichoderus bispinosus (Olivier, 1792)
 * †Dolichoderus brevicornis Dlussky, 2002
 * †Dolichoderus brevipalpis Dlussky, 2008
 * †Dolichoderus brevipennis Dlussky, 2008
 * Dolichoderus brevis Santschi, 1920
 * Dolichoderus brevithorax Menozzi, 1928
 * †Dolichoderus bruneti Théobald, 1937
 * Dolichoderus burmanicus Bingham, 1903
 * Dolichoderus butteli Forel, 1913
 * Dolichoderus canopus Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * Dolichoderus carbonarius Emery, 1895
 * †Dolichoderus caribbaeus (Wilson, 1985)
 * Dolichoderus clarki Wheeler, 1935
 * Dolichoderus clusor Forel, 1907
 * Dolichoderus cogitans Forel, 1912
 * Dolichoderus coniger (Mayr, 1870)
 * †Dolichoderus coquandi Théobald, 1937
 * †Dolichoderus cornutus (Mayr, 1868)
 * Dolichoderus crawleyi Donisthorpe, 1917
 * Dolichoderus curvilobus (Lattke, 1987)
 * Dolichoderus cuspidatus (Smith, 1857)
 * Dolichoderus dajiensis Wang & Zheng, 2005
 * Dolichoderus debilis Emery, 1890
 * Dolichoderus decollatus Smith, 1858
 * Dolichoderus dentatus Forel, 1902
 * †Dolichoderus dibolius Wilson, 1985
 * Dolichoderus diversus Emery, 1894
 * †Dolichoderus dlusskyi LaPolla & Greenwalt, 2015
 * Dolichoderus doloniger (Roger, 1862)
 * Dolichoderus doriae Emery, 1887
 * †Dolichoderus elegans Wheeler, 1915
 * Dolichoderus epetreius (Lattke, 1987)
 * Dolichoderus erectilobus Santschi, 1920
 * Dolichoderus etus Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * †Dolichoderus evolans Zhang, 1989
 * †Dolichoderus explicans (Förster, 1891)
 * Dolichoderus extensispinus Forel, 1915
 * Dolichoderus feae Emery, 1889
 * Dolichoderus fernandezi MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus ferrugineus Forel, 1903
 * Dolichoderus flatidorsus Zhou & Zheng, 1997
 * Dolichoderus formosus Clark, 1930
 * Dolichoderus furcifer Emery, 1887
 * Dolichoderus gagates Emery, 1890
 * Dolichoderus germaini Emery, 1894
 * Dolichoderus ghilianii Emery, 1894
 * Dolichoderus gibbifer Emery, 1887
 * Dolichoderus gibbus (Smith, 1861)
 * Dolichoderus gordoni Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * Dolichoderus goudiei Clark, 1930
 * †Dolichoderus granulinotus Dlussky, 2008
 * Dolichoderus haradae MacKay, 1993
 * †Dolichoderus heeri Dlussky & Putyatina, 2014
 * Dolichoderus imitator Emery, 1894
 * Dolichoderus incisus Xu, 1995
 * Dolichoderus indrapurensis Forel, 1912
 * Dolichoderus inermis MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus inferus Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * Dolichoderus inpai (Harada, 1987)
 * †Dolichoderus intermedius MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus jacobsoni Forel, 1909
 * †Dolichoderus jiaoyanshanensis (Hong, 1985)
 * Dolichoderus kathae Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * Dolichoderus kinabaluensis Dill, 2002
 * †Dolichoderus kohlsi Dlussky & Rasnitsyn, 2003
 * †Dolichoderus kutscheri Dlussky, 2008
 * †Dolichoderus kutschlinicus (Deichmüller, 1881)
 * †Dolichoderus lacinius Zhang, 1989
 * Dolichoderus lactarius (Smith, 1860)
 * Dolichoderus lamellosus (Mayr, 1870)
 * Dolichoderus laminatus (Mayr, 1870)
 * Dolichoderus laotius Santschi, 1920
 * Dolichoderus laurae MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus lobicornis (Kempf, 1959)
 * Dolichoderus longicollis MacKay, 1993
 * †Dolichoderus longipennis (Mayr, 1868)
 * †Dolichoderus longipilosus Dlussky, 2002
 * †Dolichoderus lucidus Dlussky, 2008
 * Dolichoderus luederwaldti Santschi, 1921
 * Dolichoderus lugens Emery, 1894
 * Dolichoderus lujae Santschi, 1923
 * †Dolichoderus luridivenosus Zhang, Sun & Zhang, 1994
 * Dolichoderus lutosus (Smith, 1858)
 * Dolichoderus magnipastor Dill, 2002
 * Dolichoderus mariae Forel, 1885
 * Dolichoderus maschwitzi Dill, 2002
 * Dolichoderus mesonotalis Forel, 1907
 * †Dolichoderus mesosternalis Wheeler, 1915
 * Dolichoderus modiglianii Emery, 1900
 * Dolichoderus moggridgei Forel, 1886
 * Dolichoderus monoceros Emery, 1897
 * Dolichoderus mucronifer (Roger, 1862)
 * †Dolichoderus nanus Dlussky, 2002
 * Dolichoderus niger Crawley, 1922
 * Dolichoderus nigricornis Clark, 1930
 * †Dolichoderus obliteratus (Scudder, 1877)
 * Dolichoderus omacanthus (Kempf, 1972)
 * Dolichoderus omicron Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * †Dolichoderus oviformis Théobald, 1937
 * Dolichoderus parvus Clark, 1930
 * †Dolichoderus passalomma Wheeler, 1915
 * Dolichoderus pastorulus Dill, 2002
 * Dolichoderus patens (Mayr, 1870)
 * †Dolichoderus perkovskyi Dlussky, 2008
 * Dolichoderus piceus MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus pilinomas Dill, 2002
 * †Dolichoderus pilipes Dlussky, 2008
 * Dolichoderus pilosus Zhou & Zheng, 1997
 * †Dolichoderus pinguis Dlussky, Rasnitsyn, & Perfilieva, 2015
 * Dolichoderus plagiatus (Mayr, 1870)
 * †Dolichoderus polessus Dlussky, 2002
 * †Dolichoderus polonicus Dlussky, 2002
 * †Dolichoderus primitivus (Wilson, 1985)
 * †Dolichoderus prolaminatus (Wilson, 1985)
 * †Dolichoderus punctatus Dlussky, 2008
 * Dolichoderus pustulatus Mayr, 1886
 * Dolichoderus quadridenticulatus (Roger, 1862)
 * Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (Linnaeus, 1771)
 * Dolichoderus reflexus Clark, 1930
 * †Dolichoderus robustus Dlussky, 2002
 * †Dolichoderus rohweri Carpenter, 1930
 * Dolichoderus rosenbergi Forel, 1911
 * Dolichoderus rufescens Mann, 1912
 * Dolichoderus rufotibialis Clark, 1930
 * Dolichoderus rugocapitus Zhou, 2001
 * Dolichoderus rugosus (Smith, 1858)
 * Dolichoderus rutilus Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * Dolichoderus sagmanotus Xu, 2001
 * Dolichoderus satanus Bolton, 1995
 * Dolichoderus scabridus Roger, 1862
 * Dolichoderus schulzi Emery, 1894
 * Dolichoderus scrobiculatus (Mayr, 1876)
 * †Dolichoderus sculpturatus (Mayr, 1868)
 * Dolichoderus semiorbis Shattuck & Marsden, 2013
 * Dolichoderus semirugosus (Mayr, 1870)
 * Dolichoderus septemspinosus Emery, 1894
 * Dolichoderus setosus (Kempf, 1959)
 * Dolichoderus shattucki MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus sibiricus Emery, 1889
 * Dolichoderus siggii Forel, 1895
 * Dolichoderus smithi MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus spinicollis (Latreille, 1817)
 * Dolichoderus spurius Forel, 1903
 * Dolichoderus squamanodus Xu, 2001
 * Dolichoderus sulcaticeps (Mayr, 1870)
 * Dolichoderus sundari Mathew & Tiwari, 2000
 * Dolichoderus superaculus (Lattke, 1987)
 * Dolichoderus taprobanae (Smith, 1858)
 * Dolichoderus taschenbergi (Mayr, 1866)
 * †Dolichoderus tauricus Dlussky, 1981
 * †Dolichoderus tertiarius (Mayr, 1868)
 * Dolichoderus thoracicus (Smith, 1860)
 * †Dolichoderus transversipetiolaris Zhang, Sun & Zhang, 1994
 * Dolichoderus tricolor Emery, 1914
 * Dolichoderus tricornis Emery, 1897
 * Dolichoderus tridentanodus Ortega-De Santiago & Vásquez-Bolaños, 2012
 * Dolichoderus tristis Mann, 1916
 * Dolichoderus tuberifer Emery, 1887
 * Dolichoderus turneri Forel, 1902
 * Dolichoderus validus (Kempf, 1959)
 * Dolichoderus varians Mann, 1916
 * †Dolichoderus vectensis Donisthorpe, 1920
 * †Dolichoderus vexillarius Wheeler, 1915
 * †Dolichoderus vlaskini Dlussky, 2008
 * Dolichoderus voraginosus MacKay, 1993
 * Dolichoderus ypsilon Forel, 1902
 * †Dolichoderus zherichini Dlussky & Perkovsky, 2002