Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Acanthostichus

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

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
329 w
Citations
6
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Acanthostichus
Temporal range:
A. texanus worker from Mexico
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dorylinae
Genus: Acanthostichus
Mayr, 1887
Type species
Typhlopone serratula
Diversity1
24 species
Synonyms

Ctenopyga Ashmead, 1906

Acanthostichus is a predatory and predominantly subterranean genus of ant in the subfamily Dorylinae.23 They are found in the New World, from the southern United States to Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina.4 They are probably common, but due to their subterranean nature, they are seldom collected or seen.5

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.5

Species

The genus currently contains 24 species:

  • Acanthostichus arizonensis MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus bentoni MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus brevicornis Emery, 1894
  • Acanthostichus brevinodis MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus concavinodis MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus davisi (Smith, 1942)
  • Acanthostichus emmae MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus femoralis Kusnezov, 1962
  • Acanthostichus flexuosus MacKay, 1996
  • Acanthostichus fuscipennis Emery, 1895
  • †Acanthostichus hispaniolicus De Andrade, 1998
  • Acanthostichus kirbyi 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 (Smith, 1858)
  • Acanthostichus skwarrae Wheeler, 1934
  • Acanthostichus texanus Forel, 1904
  • Acanthostichus truncatus MacKay, 1996
References

References

  1. Bolton, B. (2014). "Acanthostichus". AntCat. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. MacKay 1996, p. 129
  3. "Genus: Acanthostichus". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  4. MacKay 2004, p. 97
  5. MacKay 1996, p. 130
  • MacKay, W. P. (1996), "A revision of the ant genus Acanthostichus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).", Sociobiology, 27: 129–179
  • MacKay, W. P. (2004), "A new species of the ant genus Acanthostichus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Paraguay, and a description of the gyne of A. brevicornis Emery.", Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 106: 97–101
External links