Acanthostichus

Acanthostichus
Temporal range: Burdigalian? - Recent
A. texanus worker from Mexico
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dorylinae
Genus: Acanthostichus
Mayr, 1887
Type species
Typhlopone serratula
Diversity[1]
24 species
Synonyms

Ctenopyga Ashmead, 1906

Acanthostichus is a predatory and predominantly subterranean genus of ant in the subfamily Dorylinae.[2][3] They are found the New World, from the southern United States to Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina.[4] They are probably common, but due to their subterranean nature, they are seldom collected or seen.[5]

Most species are very similar; the petiole is the most important feature in identifying species. Many are known only from a few collections, or even single specimen, which makes it hard to determine variability within species. For this reason, many described members of this genus may be synonyms.[5]

Species

The genus currently contains 24 species:

  • Acanthostichus arizonensis MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus bentoni MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus brevicornis Emery, 1894
  • Acanthostichus brevinodis MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus concavinodis MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus davisi (Smith, 1942)
  • Acanthostichus emmae MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus femoralis Kusnezov, 1962
  • Acanthostichus flexuosus MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus fuscipennis Emery, 1895
  • †Acanthostichus hispaniolicus De Andrade, 1998
  • Acanthostichus kirbyi Emery, 1895
  • Acanthostichus laevigatus MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus laticornis Forel, 1908
  • Acanthostichus lattkei MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus longinodis Mackay, 2004
  • Acanthostichus punctiscapus MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus quadratus Emery, 1895
  • Acanthostichus quirozi MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus sanchezorum MacKay, 1985
  • Acanthostichus serratulus (Smith, 1858)
  • Acanthostichus skwarrae Wheeler, 1934
  • Acanthostichus texanus Forel, 1904
  • Acanthostichus truncatus MacKay, 1996

References

  1. ↑ Bolton, B. (2014). "Acanthostichus". AntCat. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. ↑ MacKay 1996, p. 129
  3. ↑ "Genus: Acanthostichus". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  4. ↑ MacKay 2004, p. 97
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 MacKay 1996, p. 130
  • MacKay, W. P. (1996), "A revision of the ant genus Acanthostichus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).", Sociobiology 27: 129–179
  • MacKay, W. P. (2004), "A new species of the ant genus Acanthostichus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Paraguay, and a description of the gyne of A. brevicornis Emery.", Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 106: 97–101

External links