| Zasphinctus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Zasphinctus imbecilis worker from Australia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Dorylinae |
| Genus: | Zasphinctus Wheeler, 1918 |
| Type species | |
| Sphinctomyrmex stali Forel, 1900 | |
| Diversity [1] | |
| 23 species | |
| Synonyms | |
Eusphinctus (Zasphinctus) Wheeler, 1918 | |
Zasphinctus is a genus of ants in the subfamily Dorylinae. The genus is a pantropical and distinctive group, originally described by Wheeler (1918) based on "Sphinctomyrmex" turneri collected in Queensland, Australia. [1] Zasphinctus was first described as a subgenus of "Eusphinctus", and then synonymized into Sphinctomyrmex, to later be raised to full genus status by Borowiec (2016), [1] [2] who included approximately 20 species in the new genus circumscription. [3]
The species Zasphinctus sarowiwai was named in honor of Nigerian peace activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 2017. [4]
