''Xymmer'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,0 ...

in the subfamily

Amblyoponinae Amblyoponinae is a subfamily of ants in the poneromorph subfamilies group containing 13 extant genera and one extinct genus. The ants in this subfamily are mostly specialized subterranean predators. Adult workers pierce the integument (non let ...

containing the single

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

''Xymmer muticus''.

Taxonomy

''Xymmer'' was first described by Santschi (1914) as a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

subgeneric taxon under '' Stigmatomma''. Since Santschi's original description, ''Xymmer'' was raised to genus by Wheeler (1922) in his identification key for African Amblyoponini. Clark (1934) regarded ''Xymmer'' as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betw ...

in '' Amblyopone'' following Wheeler's suggestion; however, distinguishing characters were not discussed in their treatments. Brown (1949, 1960) discussed separable characters for ''Xymmer'' (as a junior synonym under the subgenus ''Stigmatomma'') for the first time since Santschi's original description. Brown regarded ''Stigmatomma'' and its related names as junior synonyms of ''Amblyopone'' at that time. ''Xymmer'' was resurrected to its current placement as an independent genus from

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly 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 all ...

with ''Amblyopone'' based on a morphological examination by Yoshimura & Fisher (2012).

References

* Amblyoponinae Monotypic ant genera {{ant-stub