A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Author
Wild, Alexander L.
text
Zootaxa
2007
1622
1
55
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.179222
9584df9a-a4a2-49bb-a256-cb99776f4dc8
1175-5326
179222
Dorymyrmex paranensis
Santschi 1922
a.
NEW STATUS
.
Dorymyrmex pyramicus
subsp.
flavus
var.
paranensis
Forel 1911b: 285
. Unavailable name.
Dorymyrmex
(
Conomyrma
)
pyramicus
var.
paranensis
Santschi 1922a: 372
. First available use of
paranensis
Forel 1911
b. [w
syntypes
examined, MHNG; San Bernadino, Cordillera,
Paraguay
(Fiebrig)].
Conomyrma pyramicus
var.
paranensis
(Santschi)
. Kempf 1972: 79.
Dorymyrmex
(
Conomyrma
)
pyramicus paranensis
Santschi.
Bolton
et al.
2006: catalogue.
Dorymyrmex paranensis
, described by Forel from Fiebrig’s Paraguayan material and known from additional recent collections in eastern Parguay, can be distinguished from all other
Dorymyrmex
in the region by the following combination of character states: compound eyes relatively small, about the same diameter as the distance between the frontal carinae; head of largest workers relatively broad, about as broad as long; head, mesosoma, and anterior gastric terga clear yellow to yellow-orange in color; and psammophore present but weakly developed. This ant shares the same small eye size as the common
D. brunneus
, but that species has a more strongly produced propodeal tooth, a more angular mesonotum, and a dark brown body color. The other common light-colored
Dorymyrmex
in
Paraguay
, the chacoan species
D. exsanguis
, is more
gracile
; the head of the largest workers at least 1.2x as long as broad and supports a fully-developed psammophore bearing setae roughly equal in length to the head.
The identity of
Dorymyrmex pyramicus
(Roger 1863a)
, described from Bahia,
Brazil
, is unclear. Snelling (1995) discusses the problems with this and other names in this taxonomically problematic genus. Apparently, no subsequent taxonomists have seen Roger’s material and Roger’s description of
D. pyramicus
does not provide enough detail to discern anything other than a bicolored red/brown
Dorymyrmex
. Kusnezov (1952b) and Fabiana Cuezzo (pers comm.) use the name for a robust, bicolored, large-eyed species that I have collected near Buenos Aires,
Argentina
but that has not yet been recorded from
Paraguay
. In any case, I find no justification for retaining the current trinomen given the uncertainty of
D. pyramicus
.