User:ItsChowChow/Linepithema fuscum

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Linepithema fuscum is a species of ant in the genus Linepithema. Described by Mayr in 1866, the species is endemic to South America. Linepithema fucsum was the first species-level name assigned to genus Linepithema by Mayr. It is related to L. angulatum, L. keiteli, L. piliferum and L. tsachila. However, only Linepithema fuscum remains without a worker association and it could be possible that males of Linepithema fuscum actually belong to the workers of L. angulatum.

Taxonomy
In 1866, Mayr first described Linepithema fuscum and 28 species-level names have been assigned to the genus Linepithema ever since. However, species limit within Linepithema is poorly understood. and there haven't been efforts to synthesize the isolated description of the species into one coherent taxonomy. The description of Linepithema fuscum was initially based on a male species description by Mayr. Shattuck later cited the male morphology difference in his phylogenetic research to propose two different species groups of ''L.. fuscum and L. humile in the genus Linepithema.''

Distribution
Linepitherma fuscum is native to Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. But they have been also found in Colombian inter-Andean valley.

Biology
Little is known about the biology of L. fuscum. The species has been collected from 200 to nearly 3000 meters underground. One sample was collected from a "shrubby pasture" and other sample was collected inside a laboratory building in Madre de Dios. From the 2 samples, the researchers were able to determine the haploid chromosome number to be N=9 but could not distinguish between the two.

Castes
Little is known about the caste system of L. fuscum. Similar to most ant species, the caste system consists of workers, male, and queen. The queen is a moderately sized specie but it is unknown whether or not wings are present in the queen or any other caste. Since only few samples were able to be collected, more studies on the caste is needed.