Alfaria

Alfaria
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ectatomminae
Tribe:	Ectatommini
Genus:	Alfaria Emery, 1896
Type species
Alfaria simulans
Diversity
9 species (Species Checklist, Species by Country) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Opisthoscyphus Mann, 1922

Evolutionary Placement

Heteroponerini Bazboltonia   (1 species) Acanthoponera   (4 species) Heteroponera   (27 species) Ectatommini Ectatomma   (15 species) Rhytidoponera   (104 species) Stictoponera   (43 species) Gnamptogenys   (32 species) Typhlomyrmex   (10 species) Poneracantha   (18 species) Alfaria   (9 species) Holcoponera   (40 species)

Based on Brady et al. (2006) and Camacho et al. (2022).

Identification

See images of species within this genus

Keys including this Genus

• Key to Ectatomminae Genera

 

Keys to Species in this Genus

• Key to Alfaria species

Nomenclature

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

• ALFARIA [Ectatomminae: Ectatommini]
  • Alfaria Emery, 1896e: 177 (diagnosis in key). Type-species: Alfaria simulans Emery, 1896e: 177 (footnote), by original designation.
• OPISTHOSCYPHUS [junior synonym of Alfaria]
  • Opisthoscyphus Mann, 1922: 4. Type-species: Opisthoscyphus scabrosus Mann, 1922: 5 (junior synonym of Alfaria minuta Emery, 1896g: 106), by original designation.

Taxonomic history

• [Alfaria also described as new by Emery, 1896g: 41.]
• Alfaria in Ponerinae: Emery, 1896e: 177 [Ponerinae].
• Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ponerini: Forel, 1899c: 3.
• Alfaria in Pachycondylinae, Ectatommini: Ashmead, 1905b: 382.
• Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini: Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 135; Emery, 1911d: 46; Forel, 1917: 236; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 642; subsequent authors.
• Alfaria as junior synonym of Gnamptogenys: Brown, 1958g: 211; Kempf, 1972a: 111; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1337; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990: 10; Bolton, 1995b: 19; Bolton, 2003: 174.
• Alfaria as genus: Forel, 1899c: 3; Ashmead, 1905b: 382; Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 135; Emery, 1911d: 46; Forel, 1917: 236; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 642; Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 10 (diagnosis).
• Alfaria as senior synonym of Opisthoscyphus: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115; Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 10.
• Alfaria references: Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 10 (diagnosis).
• [Note: for references pre-2022 see under Gnamptogenys.]

References

• Ashmead, W. H. 1905c. A skeleton of a new arrangement of the families, subfamilies, tribes and genera of the ants, or the superfamily Formicoidea. Can. Entomol. 37: 381-384 (page 382, Alfaria in Pachycondylinae, Ectatommini)
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 174, Alfaria as junior synonym of Gnamptogenys)
• Borgmeier, T. 1957a. Myrmecologische Studien, I. An. Acad. Bras. Cienc. 29: 103-128 (page 115, Alfaria senior synonym of Opisthoscyphus)
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1958g. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. II. Tribe Ectatommini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 118: 173-362 (page 211, Alfaria as junior synonym of Gnamptogenys)
• Camacho, G.P., Franco, W., Branstetter, M.G., Pie, M.R., Longino, J.T., Schultz, T.R., Feitosa, R.M. 2022. UCE phylogenomics resolves major relationships among Ectaheteromorph ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae, Heteroponerinae): A new classification for the subfamilies and the description of a new genus. Insect Systematics and Diversity 6(1): 5; 1–20 (doi:10.1093/isd/ixab026).
• Emery, C. 1896e. Clef analytique des genres de la famille des Formicides, pour la détermination des neutres. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 40: 172-189 (page 177, Alfaria as genus (diagnosis in key). )
• Emery, C. 1896g. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 28: 33-107 (page 41, [Alfaria also described as new])
• Emery, C. 1911e. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125 (page 46, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)
• Forel, A. 1899b. Formicidae. [part]. Biol. Cent.-Am. Hym. 3: 1-24 (page 3, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ponerini)
• Forel, A. 1917. Cadre synoptique actuel de la faune universelle des fourmis. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 51: 229-253 (page 236, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1910b. Ants: their structure, development and behavior. New York: Columbia University Press, xxv + 663 pp. (page 135, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1922i. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VII. Keys to the genera and subgenera of ants. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 45: 631-710 (page 642, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)