Myrmica

European fire ant Myrmica rubra, photographed by Alex Wild.

Belongs within: Myrmicinae.

Myrmica is a genus of generalist ants found in Eurasia and North America. Notable species include the European fire ant Myrmica rubra, which is native to Europe but has also become widely introduced in northern North America.

Characters (from Wheeler & Wheeler 1990): Antenna with twelve segments. Lateral portion of clypeus not raised; antennal fossa opening onto clypeus without elevated boundary; psammophore absent. Epinotum armed with spines or teeth; promesonotal suture absent on thoracic dorsum; mesoepinotal suture moderately impressed. Middle and hind tibial spurs finely pectinate. Postpetiole attached to anterior end of first gastric somite, gaster about equally convex above and below.

<==Myrmica Latr. 1804 B03 [incl. Paramyrmica WW90]
    |--*M. rubra B03
    |--M. algirica Lucas 1849 E12
    |--M. breviceps Smith 1878 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. caeca Jerdon 1851 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. colax WW90
    |--M. consternens Walker 1859 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. cursor Smith 1878 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. gallienii AV04
    |--M. humilis Smith 1858 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. inezae Forel 1902 B03
    |--M. kurokii AV04
    |    |--M. k. kurokii AV04
    |    `--M. k. tipuna AV04
    |--M. laevinodis MS01
    |--M. lobicornis AV04
    |--M. luctuosa Smith 1878 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. margaritae Emery 1889 B03
    |--M. mexicana WW90
    |--M. obscurata Motschulsky 1863 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. pallinodis Motschulsky 1863 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. ritae Emery 1889 B03
    |--M. rugifrons Smith 1858 (n. d.) B03
    |--M. ruginodis AV04
    |--M. rugiventris WW90
    |--M. rugosa Maur 1865 B03
    |    |--M. r. rugosa AV04
    |    `--M. r. arisana AV04
    |--M. sabuleti AV04
    |--M. scabrinodis AV04
    |--M. schencki AV04
    |--M. slovaca ES12
    |--M. smythiesi Forel 1902 (see below for synonymy) B03
    |--M. specioides AV04
    |--M. spinosior ES12
    |--M. striolagaster BS06
    |--M. sulcinodis AV04
    |--M. tahoensis BS06
    |--M. testaceopilosa Lucas 1849 E12
    `--M. vandeli AV04

Myrmica smythiesi Forel 1902 [incl. M. smythiesi var. carbonaria non M. (Monomorium) carbonaria Smith 1858, M. smythiesi var. rupestris] B03

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AV04] Als, T. D., R. Vila, N. P. Kandul, D. R. Nash, S.-H. Yen, Y.-F. Hsu, A. A. Mignault, J. J. Boomsma & N. E. Pierce. 2004. The evolution of alternative parasitic life histories in large blue butterflies. Nature 432: 386–390.

[B03] Bingham, C. T. 1903. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera vol. 2. Ants and Cuckoo-Wasps. Taylor and Francis: London.

[BS06] Brady, S. G., T. R. Schultz, B. L. Fisher & P. S. Ward. 2006. Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the early evolution and diversification of ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 103 (48): 18172–18177.

[ES12] Espadaler, X., & S. Santamaria. 2012. Ecto- and endoparasitic fungi on ants from the Holarctic region. Psyche 2012: 168478.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[MS01] Mocsáry, A., & V. Szépligeti. 1901. Hymenopterák [Hymenopteren]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 121–169. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.

[WW90] Wheeler, G. C., & J. Wheeler. 1990. Insecta: Hymenoptera Formicidae. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 1277–1294. John Wiley & Sones: New York.

Last updated: 25 September 2017.