Acanthognathus

Acanthognathus
Acanthognathus teledectus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Dacetini
Genus: Acanthognathus
Mayr, 1887[1]
Type species
Acanthognathus ocellatus
Species

7, see text

Acanthognathus is a genus of ants that are found in tropical Central and South America.[2] They are reddish in colour and have long trap-jaws that can be compared to those of Odontomachus. These predatory ants live in small colonies that typically consist of less than 30 adults.[2]

Mistakenly, the name Acanthognathus was re-used by German ichthyologist G. Duncker in 1912 for a genus of Syngnathid fish,[3] but that is invalid as it is a junior homonym.[4] These are now placed in either Dunckerocampus or Doryrhamphus, as the former sometimes is considered a subgenus of the latter.[5][6] To further confuse, a genus of Nemesiid spiders, Acanthogonatus, is frequently misspelled Acanthognathus.

Species

References

  1. ^ Mayr, G. (1887). Südamerikanische Formiciden. Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 37: 511-632.
  2. ^ a b Brown, W. L., Jr., & W. W. Kempf (1969). A Revision of the Neotropical Dacetine Ant Genus Acanthognathus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae. Psyche 76(2): 87-109.
  3. ^ Duncker, G. (1912). Die Gattungen der Syngnathidae. Mitteilungen Naturhist. Museum Hamburg 29: 219-240.
  4. ^ Ride, W.D.L, H.G. Cogger, C. Dupuis, O. Kraus, A. Minelli, F. C. Thompson & P.K. Tubbs, eds. (1999). International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. 4th edition. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. ISBN 0-85301-006-4
  5. ^ Whitley, G. P. (1933). Studies in ichthyology. No. 7. Records of the Australian Museum v. 19 (1): 60-112, Pls. 11-15.
  6. ^ Dawson, C. E. (1985). Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). Gulf Coast Research Lab., Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Indo-Pacific pipefishes (Red Sea to the Americas). i-vi + 1-230.