''Acanthostichus'' is a predatory and predominantly subterranean

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of ant 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 subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Dorylinae. They are found in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

, from the southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. They are probably common, but due to their subterranean nature, they are seldom collected or seen. 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 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 ...

Species

The genus currently contains 24 species: *''

Acanthostichus arizonensis ''Acanthostichus arizonensis'' is a species of ant belonging to the genus ''Acanthostichus''. It was described by Mackay in 1996. These ants are distributed in the United States and Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United ...

'' MacKay, 1996 *'' Acanthostichus bentoni'' MacKay, 1996 *''

Acanthostichus brevicornis ''Acanthostichus brevicornis'' is a species of ant belonging to the genus ''Acanthostichus''. Emery first described the species in 1894, and a synonym was given by Bruch in 1924. Their distribution is in South America, in the countries of Argen ...

'' Emery, 1894 *''

Acanthostichus brevinodis ''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, bu ...

'' MacKay, 1996 *''

Acanthostichus concavinodis ''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, bu ...

'' MacKay, 1996 *''

Acanthostichus davisi ''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, bu ...

'' (Smith, 1942) *''

Acanthostichus emmae ''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, bu ...

'' MacKay, 1996 *''

Acanthostichus femoralis ''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, bu ...

'' Kusnezov, 1962 *''

Acanthostichus flexuosus ''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, bu ...

'' MacKay, 1996 *''

Acanthostichus fuscipennis ''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, bu ...

'' 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 ''Acan ...

'' De Andrade, 1998 *''

Acanthostichus kirbyi ''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 Argentina (), offici ...

'' 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 ''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, bu ...

'' (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