''Acanthostichus'' is a predatory and predominantly subterranean
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
ant
Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...
in the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Dorylinae
Dorylinae is an ant subfamily, with distributions in both the Old World and New World. Brady ''et al.'' (2014) Synonym (taxonomy), synonymized the previous dorylomorph subfamilies (Aenictinae, Aenictogitoninae, Cerapachyinae, Ecitoninae, and Lep ...
.
They are found in the
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
, from the southern
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
,
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
and northern
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
They are probably common, but due to their subterranean nature, they are seldom collected or seen.
Most species are very similar; the
petiole
Petiole may refer to:
*Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem
*Petiole (insect anatomy)
In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...
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
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
.
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
''Acanthostichus hispaniolicus'' is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Dorylinae known from a group of possibly Miocene fossils found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. ''A. hispaniolicus'' is the first species of the ant genus '' Aca ...
''
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
''Acanthostichus'' is a predatory and predominantly subterranean genus of ant in the subfamily Dorylinae. They are found in the New World, from the southern United States to Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina. They are probably common, but ...
''
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
*
*
External links
*
Dorylinae
Ant genera
Hymenoptera of South America
Hymenoptera of North America
{{ant-stub