Anochetus rufus

Brown, WL Jr.,, 1978, Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. Part VI. Ponerinae, tribe Ponerini, subtribe Odontomachiti. Section B. Genus Anochetus and bibliography., Studia Entomologica 20, pp. 549-638 : 593-594

publication ID

6757

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6284130

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F3716986-B430-5953-3F26-AD8FA6DE1709

treatment provided by

Donat

scientific name

Anochetus rufus
status

 

[20] A. rufus View in CoL View at ENA   HNS ,

originally placed by Jerdon in Odontomachus   HNS , was accepted by Emery as an Anochetus   HNS . Though there is little in the description of diagnostic value, the size (" 1 -4th of an inch") and color, "head, thorax and legs rufous; abdomen dark brown", fit fairly well the type series of A. mordax   HNS , of which the type locality is Dohnavur, 300 feet, «Tinnevelly» (Tirunelveli) District, now in Madras State, India. The type locality for rufus   HNS as here restricted is Salem District, Madras State, about 300 km N of Tirunelveli. Jerdon also says of rufus   HNS that the petiole is "raised, pointed and conic", which applies better to a side view of A. mordax   HNS than to such other large Anochetus   HNS species from peninsular India as kanariensis   HNS or sedilloti   HNS .

Jerdon also refers to a larger (11/24 inch) ant from Wynaad District (Kerala State) with finely striated thorax and "teeth of the jaw blunt" as a possible «warrior» caste of rufus   HNS , but this description evidently refers to Odontomachus simillimus   HNS , which I found to be abundant in Wynaad in 1969.

While it seems impossible to be certain that rufus   HNS and mordax refer to the same biological species, acceptance of this synonymy does no violence to the known facts, and it settles a nomenclatorial problem that has persisted in the literature for many years.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Formicidae

Genus

Anochetus

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