Systematics and evolution of the acrobat ant Crematogaster in Madagascar

Crematogaster is a large and world-wide distributed genus of pre-dominantly arboreal ants, which has been divided by early taxonomists into several subgenera on the basis of morphological characters. The monophyly of these groupings however has not been tested so far, and relationships between the subgenera remain uninvestigated. In Madagascar, Crematogaster is diverse and represented with about 40 partly undescribed species. These are currently classified into 5 of the afore mentioned subgenera. In this study, the three nuclear markers Argenine Kinase, Long Wavelength Rhodopsin and CAD are used to establish phylogenetic relationships on the subgeneric and species level within Malagasy Crematogaster. Evolution and biogeography of Crematogaster in Madagascar and the Afrotropical region is discussed in the light of the estimated phylogeny.