Pseudomyrmex is a genus of stinging, wasp-like ants in the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae. They are large-eyed, slender ants, found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the New World.
Pseudomyrmex | |
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Pseudomyrmex gracilis (elongate twig ant) worker | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Pseudomyrmecinae |
Tribe: | Pseudomyrmecini |
Genus: | Pseudomyrmex Lund, 1831 |
Type species | |
Formica gracilis[1] Fabricius, 1804
| |
Diversity[2] | |
146 species | |
Synonyms[3] | |
Apedunculata Enzmann, 1944 |
Pseudomyrmex is predominantly Neotropical in distribution, but a few species are known from the Nearctic region.[4] Most species are generalist twig nesters, for instance, Pseudomyrmex pallidus may nest in the hollow stems of dead grasses, twigs of herbaceous plants, and in dead, woody twigs.[4] However, the genus is best known for several species that are obligate mutualists with certain species of Acacia.[5] Other species have evolved obligate mutualism with other trees; for example Pseudomyrmex triplarinus is obligately dependent on any of a few trees in the genus Triplaris.[6][7]