{{Short description|Genus of ant}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Colobopsis truncata casent0179881 p 1 high.jpg | image_caption = Type species ''Colobopsis truncata'' worker | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Colobopsis | authority = Mayr, 1861 | type_species = ''Formica truncata'' | type_species_authority = Spinola, 1808 | diversity_link = List of Colobopsis species | diversity = 95 species | diversity_ref = }} [[File:Colobopsis mississippiensis P1440474a.jpg|thumb|''Colobopsis mississippiensis'' alate]] '''''Colobopsis''''' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. This genus was first described in 1861 by Mayr and contains 95 species. The type species is ''Colobopsis truncata''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.antweb.org/description.do?subfamily=formicinae&genus=colobopsis&rank=genus&project=allantwebants|title=Colobopsis|website=www.antweb.org|language=en|access-date=2019-08-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wheeler|first=William M.|title=THE AMERICAN ANTS OF THE SUBGENUS COLOBOPSIS.|pages=20|hdl=2246/623|year=1904}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.antcat.org/catalog/464151|title=Colobopsis - AntCat|website=www.antcat.org|access-date=2019-08-28}}</ref>
== Description == As part of Camponotini, ''Colobopsis'' workers have distinctive mandibular dentition (5-8 teeth with the 3rd tooth from the apex not being reduced), antennae 12-segmented and antennal separations well separated from the posterior clypeal margin.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Philip S. |last2=Blaimer |first2=Bonnie B. |last3=Fisher |first3=Brian L. |date=2016-02-02 |title=A revised phylogenetic classification of the ant subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with resurrection of the genera Colobopsis and Dinomyrmex |url=http://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4072.3.4 |journal=Zootaxa |volume=4072 |issue=3 |pages=343–357 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4072.3.4 |pmid=27395929 |issn=1175-5334|doi-access=free }}</ref>
''Colobopsis'' workers are dimorphic, being divided into major workers and minor workers. The major workers generally have phragmotic heads that are truncate to varying extents. This may cause them to be confused for ''Camponotus'' and vice versa, since some ''Camponotus'' also have phragmotic heads.<ref name=":0" /> Queens of ''Colobopsis'' have phragmotic heads as well.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Colobopsis - AntWiki |url=https://antwiki.org/wiki/Colobopsis |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=antwiki.org |language=en}}</ref>
Workers in the ''Colobopsis cylindrica'' group have greatly developed mandibular glands that extend from the head all the way to the end of the gaster.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=T. H. |last2=Clark |first2=D. A. |last3=Edwards |first3=A. A. |last4=Davidson |first4=D. W. |last5=Spande |first5=T. F. |last6=Snelling |first6=R. R. |date=2004 |title=THE CHEMISTRY OF EXPLODING ANTS, ''Camponotus'' SPP. (''cylindricus'' COMPLEX) |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000042063.01424.28 |journal=Journal of Chemical Ecology |language=en |volume=30 |issue=8 |pages=1479–1492 |doi=10.1023/B:JOEC.0000042063.01424.28 |pmid=15537154 |bibcode=2004JCEco..30.1479J |s2cid=23756265 |issn=0098-0331|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Pupae of ''Colobopsis'' are always naked. This is unlike pupae of ''Camponotus'', which are enclosed in cocoons.<ref name=":0" />
== Biology == ''Colobopsis'' make their nests in plant material such as wood, galls and dead branches. The entrances to these nests are as wide as the truncate heads of major workers and queens. This allows a major worker or queen to plug an entrance using her head (phragmosis). To allow nestmates to pass, the soldier/queen moves back into the nest tunnel, which widens immediately past the entrance.<ref name=":1" />
Workers in the ''Colobopsis cylindrica'' group (including ''Colobopsis explodens'' and ''Colobopsis saundersi'') have the ability to burst the gaster, releasing mandibular gland compounds from the head (autothysis). For this, they are known as "exploding ants". This is used against competitors and predators, and is fatal to the worker itself but benefits the colony.<ref name=":2" />
== Phylogeny == For a period of time, ''Colobopsis'' was considered a subgenus of ''Camponotus''. A 2015 phylogenomic study found it to be the sister group to all the remaining Camponotini.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Blaimer |first1=Bonnie B. |last2=Brady |first2=Seán G. |last3=Schultz |first3=Ted R. |last4=Lloyd |first4=Michael W. |last5=Fisher |first5=Brian L. |last6=Ward |first6=Philip S. |date=2015 |title=Phylogenomic methods outperform traditional multi-locus approaches in resolving deep evolutionary history: a case study of formicine ants |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=271 |doi=10.1186/s12862-015-0552-5 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=4670518 |pmid=26637372 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2015BMCEE..15..271B }}</ref> Consequently, ''Colobopsis'' has been treated as its own genus again.<ref name=":0" />
==Species== {{Hatnote|See List of ''Colobopsis'' species for a complete listing of species and subspecies.}}
Selected species: *''Colobopsis abdita'' *''Colobopsis anderseni'' *''Colobopsis ceylonica'' *''Colobopsis explodens'' *''Colobopsis saundersi'' *''Colobopsis schmitzi'' *''Colobopsis truncata''
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q9815577}}
Category:Colobopsis Category:Formicinae Category:Ant genera