Sphinctomyrmex marcoyi

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Sphinctomyrmex marcoyi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Formicidae
Subfamily:
Dorylinae
Genus:
Sphinctomyrmex
Species:
S. marcoyi
Binomial name
Sphinctomyrmex marcoyi
Feitosa, Brandão, et al. 2011

Sphinctomyrmex marcoyi is a Neotropical species of ants in the subfamily Dorylinae. It is the only Sphinctomyrmex species recorded in the Amazon Forest. Gynes and males are unknown. [1]

In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined.

Ant family of insects

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".

Description

S. marcoyi is known only from the holotype, a worker collected from a soil sample. Nothing is known about its biology. [1] S. marcoyi can be easily separated from other species in the genus by its comparatively diminutive size, conspicuously elongate head, comparatively short scapes, and by the presence of a smooth longitudinal stripe on the dorsum of mesosoma, which is otherwise covered by foveolae and subdecumbent to erect hairs. [1]

Holotype The example of an organism used to describe its species

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept.

Mesosoma

The mesosoma is the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings.

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References

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