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- ›Leptomyrmecini
Spider Ants
Leptomyrmex
Leptomyrmex, or spider ants, is a genus of ants and a distinctive member of the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae. Commonly known as "spider ants" for their long legs and spider-like movements, these orange and black ants are prominent residents of intact wet forest and sclerophyll habitats throughout their range. One extant species, Leptomyrmex relictus, is known from central Brazil; otherwise, the global distribution of this genus is restricted to eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Guinea, as well as the nearby Indonesian islands of Aru and Seram.
Newly hatched Extatosoma tiaratum stick insects mimic these ants to avoid predation.
28 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Red-headed Spider Ant
speciesLeptomyrmex erythrocephalus
Leptomyrmex rufipes
speciesLeptomyrmex rufipes
Leptomyrmex tibialis
speciesLeptomyrmex tibialis
Leptomyrmex cnemidatus
speciesLeptomyrmex cnemidatus
Leptomyrmex nigriventris
speciesLeptomyrmex nigriventris
Leptomyrmex ruficeps
speciesLeptomyrmex ruficeps
Leptomyrmex rufithorax
speciesLeptomyrmex rufithorax
Leptomyrmex rothneyi
speciesLeptomyrmex rothneyi
Leptomyrmex burwelli
speciesLeptomyrmex burwelli
Leptomyrmex wiburdi
speciesLeptomyrmex wiburdi
Leptomyrmex unicolor
speciesLeptomyrmex unicolor
Leptomyrmex varians
speciesLeptomyrmex varians
Leptomyrmex pallens
speciesLeptomyrmex pallens
Leptomyrmex mjobergi
speciesLeptomyrmex mjobergi
Relict Spider Ant
speciesLeptomyrmex relictus
Leptomyrmex nigriceps
speciesLeptomyrmex nigriceps
Leptomyrmex puberulus
speciesLeptomyrmex puberulus
Leptomyrmex flavitarsus
speciesLeptomyrmex flavitarsus
Leptomyrmex fragilis
speciesLeptomyrmex fragilis
Leptomyrmex geniculatus
speciesLeptomyrmex geniculatus
Leptomyrmex niger
speciesLeptomyrmex niger
Leptomyrmex aitchisoni
speciesLeptomyrmex aitchisoni
Leptomyrmex darlingtoni
speciesLeptomyrmex darlingtoni
Leptomyrmex dolichoscapus
speciesLeptomyrmex dolichoscapus
Leptomyrmex garretti
speciesLeptomyrmex garretti
Leptomyrmex pilosus
speciesLeptomyrmex pilosus
Leptomyrmex ramorniensis
speciesLeptomyrmex ramorniensis
Leptomyrmex melanoticus
speciesLeptomyrmex melanoticus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Leptomyrmex in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 129522.