Myrmicaria baumi occidentalis

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Myrmicaria baumi occidentalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Solenopsidini
Genus: Myrmicaria
Species: M. baumi
Subspecies: M. baumi occidentalis
Trinomial name
Myrmicaria baumi occidentalis
Santschi, 1920

In Benin, Taylor et al. (2018) found this species on a range of Acacia species, including A. dudgeoni, A. gourmaensis, A. hockii and A. sieberiana.

Identification

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Benin, Ivory Coast (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • occidentalis. Myrmicaria eumenoides st. occidentalis Santschi, 1920i: 3 (w.) IVORY COAST. Raised to species: Santschi, 1925c: 156. Currently subspecies of baumi: Santschi, 1933b: 105.

Taxonomic Notes

Taylor et al. (2018) note that this taxon was originally described as a subspecies of Myrmicaria eumenoides, then raised to species by Santschi (1925) followed a few years later by being treated as a subspecies of Myrmicaria baumi by Santschi (1933), but without any explanation or justification for any of these actions. They also note that M. occidentalis has uniquely sculptured pedicel segments and, in Benin specimens, have dense spiculation on the gaster dorsum, giving a dull appearance. Because of these differences they propose that it be treated as a full species. However, this has not be followed by subsequent authors, who have continued to treat it as a subspecies of M. baumi.

Description

References