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The Ants of Fiji, and the relative caution of modern taxonomic practice
Eli Sarnat and Evan Economo have a beautiful new paper out on the Ants of Fiji. It’s open-access, too: Plate 105 from Sarnat & Economo 2012, just one of many clean, clear illustrations. This study...
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The Ants of China
Aenictus laeviceps Benoit Guenárd and Rob Dunn have combed the technical literature to make a list of all the ant species known from China (pdf): China is one of the largest countries in the world and...
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The Frustration of the Taxonomist
A miserable Brachymyrmex patagonicus worker, who for some reason is caring for her awful, cocooned sisters. (Tucson, Arizona) Scientists aren’t expected to interject opinionated commentary in the more...
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The Jedi Ant
Tetramorium jedi Hita Garcia & Fisher 2012 Those of us who enjoy the creative side of taxonomic nomenclature received an early Christmas present this week with the publication of a Zootaxa paper by...
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Answer to the Monday Mystery
You didn’t think I’d just hand you guys a full-body shot of a common insect family, did you? Of course not. I am far too clever. The mystery insect, believe it or not, is not a mutillid. Instead, it’s...
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How to tell the difference between the trap-jaw ants Anochetus and Odontomachus
I recently posted a photograph of the trap-jaw ant Anochetus micans to facebook and G+, prompting one commentator to ask about the difference between Anochetus and the related genus Odontomachus. The...
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Are morphological taxonomists just going to ignore molecular data?
Myrmicine ants are a mess. The subfamily Myrmicinae holds about half of all ant species and includes fire ants, harvester ants, leafcutter ants, turtle ants, and many more. Attempts to arrange the...
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The end of Acromyrmex?
Acromyrmex striatus, Argentina Those of you familiar with South American ants know the distinction between the two great lineages of leafcutters. Acromyrmex comprises the smaller, stubbier, spinier...
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Technology leads taxonomists to create better species, not more species
Meranoplus cryptomys Boudinot & Fisher 2013 Taxonomists live in an age of technological riches. We have digital cameras, high-powered microscopes, DNA sequencers, computers, and boatloads of...
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Pachycondyla, a genus that wasn’t
Pachycondyla striata, Brazil When I first saw the following figure, presented by myrmecologist Chris Schmidt at a social insect conference, the whole room broke into laughter: Multi-locus Bayesian...
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An example of why DNA Barcoding is still impractical for putting names to...
Check out this phylogeny from a recent paper on using DNA to identify Brazilian Pheidole: Mitochondrial sequences taken from Pheidole in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (blue) placed in a phylogeny with...
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Answer to the Monday Quagmire
A dipluran, a common if confusing arthropod. Photographed in Urbana, Illinois. Yesterday’s challenge was an unusual one, in that our ”What Is It?” lacks singular correct answers. Our uncertainty is...
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And now, for your amusement…
… a key that’s supposed to help you identify “pest ants”. Or something. http://www.pctonline.com/FileUploads/file/purdue_ants_species.pdf (hint: that’s not a fire ant. It’s one of these)
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Be cautious when using Alexanderwild.com for identifications
And now, a public service announcement. While I am flattered that many of you use my photo galleries to identify mystery ants, please be aware my site has limitations as a diagnostic tool. In...
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Another Sand Ridge Myrmica Headache
Since James has so cruelly dashed my hopes of having found Myrmica spatulata at Sand Ridge, I have this to say: How about this ant? Also photographed at Sand Ridge. Identifying Myrmica to species...
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How to recognize Apoidea
One last post on wasps, while I’m still on the topic. Bees and spheciform wasps, forming the superfamily Apoidea, are hugely diverse in form, size, color, and habits. The rich variety within Apoidea...
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Army Ants of Darkness: Eciton burchellii parvispinum
An Eciton burchellii parvispinum worker carries an ant pupa back from the raid front. Belize. When I first saw a milling swarm of these dark army ants pushing across the road last month at our lodge in...
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Polyergus moves forward, and a modest proposal for kidnapper ants
Workers of Polyergus mexicanus return from a successful raid with kidnapped Formica subsericea brood. Urbana, Illinois. This morning saw the publication of James Trager’s much-awaited taxonomic...
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Most “Carpenter Ants” aren’t carpenter ants
A major worker Camponotus ephippium guards the entrance to her underground nest. (Victoria, Australia). Since we’re on the topic of common names, a peeve of mine is the use of “Carpenter Ant” to refer...
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