Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 27, 2026

Myrmecotypus

Myrmecotypus is a genus of ant mimicking corinnid sac spiders first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1894. Species mainly occur from Panama to Mexico, with one species found in the United States, and one in Argentina.

Last revised
Jul 27, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
316 w
Citations
5
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Myrmecotypus
M. rettenmeyeri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Corinnidae
Genus: Myrmecotypus
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 18941
Type species
M. fuliginosus
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894
Species

14, see text

Myrmecotypus is a genus of ant mimicking corinnid sac spiders first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1894.2 Species mainly occur from Panama to Mexico, with one species found in the United States, and one in Argentina.31

M. rettenmeyeri, named after entomologist Carl Rettenmeyer, has an unusual longitudinal band of black hairs extending along the midline of the cephalothorax, enhancing its resemblance to Camponotus sericeiventris, an ant it shares a habitat with. The black hairs correspond to the solid longitudinal keel-like dorsal extensions of the posterior sections of the ant's thorax.

Species

As of January 2022 it contains fourteen species in North, Central, and South America:1

  • Myrmecotypus fuliginosus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894 (type) – Mexico
  • Myrmecotypus haddadi Perger & Rubio, 2021 – Bolivia
  • Myrmecotypus iguazu Rubio & Arbino, 2009 – Bolivia, Argentina
  • Myrmecotypus jasmineae Leister & Miller, 2014 – Nicaragua
  • Myrmecotypus lineatipes Chickering, 1937 – Panama
  • Myrmecotypus lineatus (Emerton, 1909) – USA
  • Myrmecotypus niger Chickering, 1937 – Panama, Bolivia, Brazil
  • Myrmecotypus olympus Reiskind, 1969 – Panama, Brazil
  • Myrmecotypus orpheus Reiskind, 1969 – Panama
  • Myrmecotypus pilosus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898) – Mexico, Panama
  • Myrmecotypus rettenmeyeri Unzicker, 1965 – Panama
  • Myrmecotypus rubioi Pett & Perger, 2021 – Bolivia
  • Myrmecotypus rubrofemoratus Perger & Rubio, 2021 – Bolivia
  • Myrmecotypus tahyinandu Perger & Rubio, 2020 – Bolivia
References

References

  1. Gloor, Daniel; Nentwig, Wolfgang; Blick, Theo; Kropf, Christian (2022). "Gen. Myrmecotypus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894". World Spider Catalog Version 22.5. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  2. Pickard-Cambridge, O. (1894), "Arachnida. Araneida", Biologia Centrali-Americana, Zoology
  3. Reiskind, J. (1965). "The Taxonomic Problem of Sexual Dimorphism in Spiders and a Synonymy in Myrmecotypus (Araneae, Clubionidae)". Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 72 (4): 279–281. doi:10.1155/1965/17894.
External links