Xiphomyrmex, Forel, 1887

Wheeler, W. M., 1922, The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition., Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45, pp. 39-269 : 193

Xiphomyrmex Forel

This genus is very closely related to Tetramorium , differing only in having the antennae of the worker and female 11- instead of 12-jointed. The scrobes of the antennae are well developed in all the species known to me.

The genus is widely distributed, being represented by a number of species in tropical Africa, Madagascar, the Indomalayan and Australian Regions and by one species, X. spinosus (Pergande) , with several subspecies, in the Sonoran Province of North America. The various species nest in the ground, like Tetramorium , often in very populous colonies.