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
Pseudomyrmex acanthobius
(Emery 1896b)
.
Pseudomyrma acanthobia
Emery 1896b: 628
. [w
syntypes
examined, MCSN, MHNG;
Paraguay
(Bohls)].
Pseudomyrma acanthobia
var.
fuscata
Emery 1896b: 629
.
NEW SYNONYMY.
[w
syntypes
examined, MCSN, MHNG;
Paraguay
(Bohls)].
Pseudomyrmex acanthobius
(Emery)
. Kusnezov 1953: 214.
Pseudomyrmex acanthobius
var.
fuscatus
(Emery)
. Kempf 1972: 215.
Pseudomyrmex acanthobius
, a small
pallidus-
group species with large eyes and a relatively swollen fore femur, has been recorded sporadically from
Paraguay
nesting in Acacia thorns. Emery described both
P acanthobius
and
P. acanthobius
var.
fuscatus
in the same paper (Emery 1896b), distinguishing the two forms on the basis of color. The collections I have seen of this species can vary from orange-yellow to dark brown. Phil Ward, who is currently revising
Pseudomyrmex
, has examined Emery’s
types
and my recent Paraguayan collections and concluded that the color variation is intraspecific.
As
there are no other characters that reliably differ between the forms, I see no reason to dissent from Ward’s assessment.