''Thaumatomyrmex'' is a Neotropical

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 ants 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 ...

Ponerinae, found from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. They are notable for their pitchfork-shaped mandibles, which they use to capture millipedes of the order Polyxenida. The genus is a specialist predator of polyxenids, and one of only two ant genera known to prey upon polyxenids.

Taxonomy and phylogenetics

Thaumatomyrmex mandibularis casent0173030 head 1

The genus was established by Mayr in 1877 to house the single species ''Thaumatomyrmex mutilatus'', discovered in Brazil. Since its inception, the genus has been placed in various

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

: Ectatommini,

Ponerini Ponerini is a tribe of Ponerinae ants with 46 genera and 6 extinct genera. Genera *''Anochetus'' *†'' Archiponera'' *''Asphinctopone'' *''Austroponera'' *''Belonopelta'' *''Boloponera'' *''Bothroponera'' *''Brachyponera'' *''Buniapone ...

, Cylindromyrmicini, and its own tribe, Thaumatomyrmecini. Molecular phylogeny by Schmidt & Shattuck (2014) confirmed that the genus is nested within Ponerini. Twelve species has been described, and a few undescribed taxa are known.

Distribution

''Thaumatomyrmex'' is found only in the Neotropics, from Mexico to Brazil (including

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and other Caribbean islands). The genus was once thought to be rare, but with better sampling techniques, the ants are now found more frequently.

Description

Workers are small in size (3.3–5.0 mm) and have pitchfork-shaped mandibles with three long teeth. They are specialist predators of millipedes of the order Polyxenida. Polyxenids are an unusual type of prey, only known to be preyed upon by ''Thaumatomyrmex'' and '' Probolomyrmex'' ants. The millipedes are covered with hooked bristle setae, which entangles potential predators. ''Thaumatomyrmex'' use their long mandibles to hold the polyxenids before immobilizing them by stinging, and then stripping the prey from their protective setae. The brush-like hairs on the workers' legs are used to scrape the setae off "like cleaning a chicken". E. O. Wilson (professor emeritus, Harvard) in an interview in New Scientist issue No3005 page 29 Workers forage individually in the leaf litter. Alate queens remain undescribed, although Kempf (1975) mentioned an alate ''T. zeteki'' queen in the collections of the U.S. National Museum, this has however never been confirmed. Gamergates (reproductive female workers) are known from at least two species (''T. atrox'' and ''T. contumax'').

Species

*'' Thaumatomyrmex atrox'' Weber, 1939 *'' Thaumatomyrmex bariay'' Fontenla Rizo, 1995 *'' Thaumatomyrmex cochlearis'' Creighton, 1928 *'' Thaumatomyrmex contumax'' Kempf, 1975 *'' Thaumatomyrmex ferox'' Mann, 1922 *'' Thaumatomyrmex mandibularis'' Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2003 *'' Thaumatomyrmex manni'' Weber, 1939 *'' Thaumatomyrmex mutilatus'' Mayr, 1887 *'' Thaumatomyrmex nageli'' Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2003 *'' Thaumatomyrmex paludis'' Weber, 1942 *'' Thaumatomyrmex soesilae'' Makhan, 2007 *'' Thaumatomyrmex zeteki'' Smith, 1944

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3496512 Ponerinae Ant genera Hymenoptera of North America Hymenoptera of South America