Classification: | Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Arthropoda | Class: Insecta | Order: Hymenoptera | Family: Formicidae | Genus: Nylanderia |

The ant attending to aphids.

For quite a while, I had thought that this ant was Linepithema humile (Argentine Ant) until I read an article on the ants found in healthcare facilities in Singapore [1]. The list of 18 ant species did not include Linepithema humile. Since this ant is found in my home, it is expected to be available around healthcare facilities as well. In the article, the species that resembled my ant pictures were Paratrechina bourbonica and Paratrechina pubens. Both species had got their genus changed to Nylanderia since 2010 [2, 3]. Hence, I had left the name of this ant as Nylanderia sp.

References:

[1] Man LS, Lee CY. Structure-invading pest ants in healthcare facilities in Singapore. Sociobiology 2012;59(1):241-249. | Read article |

[2] LaPolla JS, Brady SG, Shattuck SO. Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Prenolepis genus-group of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 2010;35:118-131. | Read article |

[3] LaPolla JS, Brady SG, Shattuck SO. Monograph of Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the World: An introduction to the systematics and biology of the genus. Zootaxa 2011;3110:1-9. | Read article |