| Acanthostichus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A. texanus worker from Mexico | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | Acanthostichus Mayr, 1887 |
| Type species | |
| Typhlopone serratula | |
| Diversity [1] | |
| 24 species | |
| Synonyms | |
CtenopygaAshmead, 1906 | |
Acanthostichus is a predatory and predominantly subterranean genus of ant in the subfamily Dorylinae. [2] [3] 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]
A genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, as well as viruses, in biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the Cretaceous period, about 140 million years ago, and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.
In biological classification, a subfamily is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoological names with "-inae".
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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]
In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and wasps in the order Apocrita.
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name, although the term is used somewhat differently in the zoological code of nomenclature. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies. This name is no longer in use: it is now a synonym of the current scientific name, Picea abies.
