Phylogeny and biogeography of the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae, with a focus on the genus Dolichoderus

The diverse ant subfamily Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) has never been investigated using phylogenomic data, and the phylogeny, timing, and biogeographic history of this cosmopolitan lineage remain incompletely characterized. Following preliminary results presented at ESA 2024, we share the results of a subfamily-wide phylogenomic study encompassing a broad range of alignment perturbations and model comparisons, including exon extraction. We recover a highly supported phylogeny robust to these inferential conditions, which we combine with our revisions of the exceptionally rich dolichoderine fossil record to infer divergence dates and reconstruct ancestral areas under a variety of time-stratified models. We further focus on the subfamily’s richest genus, Dolichoderus, representing the first molecular study of this charismatic, widespread group. Our preliminary findings, based on sampling of all described species groups and a number of morphospecies, indicate widespread homoplasy, reveal the para- or polyphyly of traditional taxonomic groupings, and provide evidence for biogeographic scenarios not predicted by previous morphology-based hypotheses.