Abstract
Based on the morphology of workers, gynes and males, we revise the taxonomy of nominal taxa traditionally included by authors in the fungus-growing ant genus Mycetophylax. Our results indicate that Mycetophylax Emery (Myrmicocrypta brittoni Wheeler, 1907, type species, by designation of Emery, 1913; junior synonym of Cyphomyrmex conformis Mayr, 1884 by Kempf, 1962) includes M. conformis, M. simplex (Emery, 1888), and M. morschi (Emery, 1888) new combination (formerly in Cyphomyrmex), with several synonymies. Mycetophylax bruchi (Santschi, 1916) does not belong to the same genus and is diagnosed, in addition to other characters, by a psammophore arising at the anterior margin of the clypeus. For this species we are resurrecting from synonymy Paramycetophylax Kusnezov, 1956 (Mycetophylax bruchi as type species, by original designation, with M. cristulatus as its new synonym). Myrmicocrypta emeryi Forel, 1907 is the only attine in which females lack the median clypeal seta and have the antennal insertion areas very much enlarged and anteriorly produced, with the psammophore setae arising from the middle of the clypeus and not at its anterior margin as in Paramycetophylax. Notwithstanding its inclusion in Mycetophylax by recent authors, it is here recognized as belonging to a hitherto undescribed, thus far monotypic genus, Kalathomyrmex new genus (Myrmicocrypta emeryi as its type species, here designated). We redescribe workers, gynes and males of all species in theReferences
Albuquerque, E.Z., Diehl-Fleig, E. & Diehl, E. (2005) Density and distribution of nests of Mycetophylax simplex (Emery) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in areas with mobile dunes on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 49,123–126.
Bestelmeyer, B.T. & Wiens, J.A. (1996) The effects of land use on the structure of ground-foraging ant communities in the Argentine Chaco. Ecological Applications 6, 1225–1240.
Bolton, B. (1994) Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 222 pp.
Bolton, B. (1995) A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 504 pp.
Bolton, B. (2000) The ant tribe Dacetini with a revision of the Strumigenys species of the Malagasy Region by Brian L. Fisher, and a revision of the Austral epopostrumiform genera by Steven O. Shattuck. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65, 1–1028.
Bolton, B., Alpert, G., Ward, P.S. & Naskrecki, P. (2006) Bolton´s catalogue of ants of the world: 1758–2005. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1 CD-ROM.
Bonnet, A. & Lopes, B.C. (1993) Formigas de dunas e restingas da Praia da Joaquina, Ilha de Santa Catarina, SC (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Biotemas 6, 107–114.
Brandão, C.R.F. (1991) Adendos ao catálogo abreviado das formigas da região Neotropical (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 35, 319–412.
Brandão, C.R.F. (2000) Major regional and type collections of ants (Formicidae) of the world and sources for the identification of ant species. In: Agosti, D., Majer, J., Alonso, L.E. and Schultz, T., (Eds.), Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. Biological Diversity Handbook Series. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington D.C., pp. 172–185.
Bucher, E.H. (1974) Observaciones ecologicas sobre los artropodos del bosque chaqueño de Tucumán. Revista de la Facultád de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales de Cordoba (nueva serie) Ciencias Biologicas 1, 35–122.
Currie, C.R., Scott, J.A., Summerbell, R.C. & Malloch, D. (1999) Fungus-growing ants use antibiotic-producing bacteria to control garden parasites. Nature 398, 701–704.
Diehl-Fleig, E., Diehl-Fleig, E. & Sanhudo, C.E.D. (2000) Mirmecofauna de solo nas dunas da Praia Grande e no Morro da Guarita no município de Torres, RS, Brazil. Acta Biologica Leopoldensia 22, 37–43.
Diehl-Fleig E. & Diehl E. (2007) Nest architecture and colony size of the fungus-growing ant Mycetophylax simplex Emery, 1888 (Formicidae, Attini). Insectes Sociaux 54, 242–247.
Emery, C. (1888) (“1887“) Formiche della provincia di Rio Grande do Sul nel Brasile, raccolte dal dott. Hermann von Ihering. Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 19, 352–366.
Emery, C. (1913) Études sur les Myrmicinae, V.: Les generes des Attini, descriptions de nouvelles formes de Mycocepurus et de Myrmicocrypta. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 57, 250–262.
Emery, C. (1922) Hymenoptera, Fam. Formicidae, Subfam. Myrmicinae. In: Wytsman, P. Genera Insectorum. Bruxelles. Fasc. 174 C. 343 pp.
Forel, A. (1907) Nova speco kaj nova gentonomo de formikoj. Internacia Scienca Revuo 4, 144–145.
Forel, A. (1912) Formicides Néotropiques. Part II. 3me sous-famille Myrmicinae Lep. (Attini, Dacetii, Cryptocerini). Mémoires de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 19, 179–209.
Fowler, H.G. (1980) Nuevos registros de hormigas para el Paraguay. Neotropica, La Plata, 26, 183–186.
Gallardo, A. (1916) Notes systématiques et éthologiques sur les fourmis attines de la République Argentine. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Buenos Aires 28, 317–344.
Gonçalves, C.R. & Mayhé-Nunes, A. (1984) Formigas das praias e restingas do Brasil. In: Lacerda et al. (Ed.), Restingas: origem, estrutura, processos. Universidade Federal Fluminense, (Anais do Simpósio sobre Restingas Brasileiras) pp. 373–378.
Jaffé, K. (1993) Surfing ants. Florida Entomologist 76, 182–183.
Kempf, W.W. (1962) Miscellaneous studies on neotropical ants II (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 5, 1–38.
Kempf, W.W. (1964) A revision of the Neotropical fungus-growing ants of the genus Cyphomyrmex Mayr. Part I: Group of strigatus Mayr (Hym., Formicidae). Studia Entomologica 7, 1–44.
Kempf, W.W. (1972) Catálogo abreviado das formigas da região Neotropical (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Studia Entomologica 15, 3–344.
Klingenberg, C. & Brandão, C.R.F. (2005) The type specimens of Attini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 45, 41–50.
Klingenberg, C., Brandão, C.R.F. & Engels, W. (2007) Primitive nest architecture and small monogyneous colonies in basal Attini inhabiting sandy beaches of Southern Brazil. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 42, 121–126.
Klingenberg, C. & Dietz, B.H. (2004) Ameisenflügel: morphologisches Merkmal zur Gattungsbestimmung von drei neotropischen Triben mit Vorschlägen zur Nomenklatur. In: Osten, T. (Ed.), Beiträge der Hymenopterologen-Tagung in Stuttgart (1–3.10.2004), Stuttgart. pp. 26–27.
Kusnezov, N. (1956) Claves para la identificacion de las hormigas de la fauna argentina. IDIA, Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería, 104–105, 1–56.
Mayhé-Nunes, A.J. & Brandão, C.R.F. (2002) Revisionary studies on the Attini ant genus Trachymyrmex Forel. Part 1. Definition of the genus and the Opulentus group. Sociobiology, 40, 667–698.
Mayr, G. (1884) No title. In: Radoszkowsky, O. Fourmis de Cayenne français. Trudy Russkago Entomologicheskago Obshchestva 18, 30–39.
Mayr, G. (1887) Südamerikanische Formiciden. Verhandlungen der K.–K. Zoologischen-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 37, 47–48.
Mueller, U.G. (2002) Ant versus fungus mutualism: ant-cultivar conflict and the desconstruction of the Attine ant-fungus symbiosis. The American Naturalist 160, 67–98.
Mueller, U.G., Rehner, S.A. & Schultz, T.R. (1998) The evolution of agriculture in ants. Science 281, 2034–2038.
Mueller, U.G. & Wcislo, W. (1998) Nesting biology of the fungus-growing ant Cyphomyrmex longiscapus Weber (Attini, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 45, 181–189.
Murakami, T, Higashi, S. & Windsor, D. (2000) Mating frequency, colony size, polyethism and sex ratio in fungus-growing ants (Attini). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 48, 276–284.
Santschi, F. (1916) Formicides sudaméricains nouveaux ou peu connus. Physis (B. Aires) 2, 365–399.
Santschi, F. (1922) Myrmicines, dolichodérines et autres formicides néotropiques. Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 54, 345–378.
Santschi, F. (1923) Solenopsis et autres fourmis néotropicales. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 30, 245–273.
Santschi, F. (1925) Fourmis des provinces argentines de Santa Fe, Catamarca, Santa Cruz, Córdoba et Los Andes. Comunicaciones del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural "Bernardino Rivadavia" 2, 149–168.
Santschi, F. (1929) Nouvelles fourmis de la République Argentine et du Brésil. Anales de la Sociedad Cientifica Argentina 107, 273–316.
Schultz, T.R. & Brady, S.G. (2008) Major evolutionary transitions in ant agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 105, 5435–5440.
Schultz, T.R., Solomon, S.A., Mueller, U.G., Boomsma, J.J., Adams, R.M.M. & Norden, B. (2002) Cryptic speciation in the fungus-growing ants Cyphomyrmex longiscapus Weber and Cyphomyrmex muelleri Schultz and Solomon, new species (Formicidae, Attini). Insectes Sociaux 49, 331–343.
Villesen, P., Murakami, T., Schultz, T.R. & Boomsma, J.J. (2002) Identifying the transition between single and multiple mating of queens in fungus-growing ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 1541–1548.
Weber, N.A. (1937) The biology of the fungus growing ants, Part I. New forms. Revista de Entomologia 7, 378–409.
Weber, N.A. (1948) Studies on the fauna of Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire and the Venezuelan islands: No. 14. Ants from the Leeward Group and some other Caribbean localities. Natuurwetenschappelijke Studiekring voor Suriname en Curacao 5, 78–86.
Weber, N.A. (1958) Some Attine synonyms and types (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 60, 259–264.
Wheeler, W.M. (1907) The fungus-growing ants of North America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 23, 669–807.
Wheeler, W.M. (1911) Ants collected in Grenada, W.I. by Mr. C.T. Brues. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University 54, 167–172.