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How to identify the bullet ant, Paraponera clavata
Bullet ant, Paraponera clavata, Jatun Sacha reserve, Ecuador. . The most infamous ant in the world is surely the tropical American bullet ant, Paraponera clavata. This conspicuous insect is known for...
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Ten New Temnothorax
Temnothorax caguatan Snelling, Borowiec, and Prebus 2014 from Jasper Ridge Biological Reserve, California, USA. The great Roy Snelling has posthumously published a revision of California’s...
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If you’re going to fail at taxonomy, you may as well fail big.
[source] I don’t even know how to calculate the Taxonomy Fail Index on this. It’s multidimensionally wrong.
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Accidental Robot Taxonomy
Here’s a find that will disturb any self-respecting taxonomist: This book is not a book. It’s an unpublished student thesis from the University of Texas at El Paso. Apparently Bibliogov, a publishing...
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How To Tell The Difference Between the Japanese Pavement Ant And The Common...
Urban ant collectors across temperate North America are undoubtedly familiar with the pavement ant Tetramorium caespitum*. This small brown insect is as common as dirt along sidewalks. The pavement ant...
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Everything Old Is New Again – Ponerine Taxonomy Returns To Its Roots
Pachycondyla striata, from Brazil, is one of the few names to remain stable after Schmidt & Shattuck fragmented Pachycondyla. A monumental day for ant taxonomy! The mythical Schmidt & Shattuck...
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A Myrmicine Phylogeny Shakes Things Up
Monomorium kiliani, an Australian myrmicine. The narrow, two-segmented waist is characteristic of this subfamily. We’re only halfway through the year, but already 2014 will be remembered as pivotal for...
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How Should Taxonomists Name Your Favorite Ants?
Are these two Temnothorax species, or one Temnothorax and one Protomognathus? Last year, a team of Antweb-affiliated myrmecologists published an evolutionary study concluding, among many results, that...
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Introducing Tetramorium immigrans: a better name for the long-established...
No longer fighting over a name. Meet Tetramorium immigrans. I have never been more pleased to report a taxonomic name change than this one. Long called “Tetramorium caespitum”, then “Tetramorium...
View ArticleInside the University of Texas Insect Collection
A couple weeks ago a media guy from our College of Natural Sciences, Thomas Swafford, stopped in to shoot a short piece promoting the insect collection. Have a look! Insects Unlocked from University of...
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