Sima bifoveolata

Sima bifoveolata
Scientific classification (junior synonym of Tetraponera ambigua)
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Pseudomyrmecinae
Genus:	Tetraponera
Species:	Sima bifoveolata; Mayr, 1895

This taxon is not in use as it is currently considered to be a junior synonym of Tetraponera ambigua.

Nomenclature

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

bifoveolata. Sima bifoveolata Mayr, 1895: 146 (w.) MOZAMBIQUE, TANZANIA (Zanzibar I.).
- [Misspelled as foveolata by Santschi, 1912b: 162.]
- Menozzi, 1926a: 37 (q.).
- Combination in S. (Tetraponera): Arnold, 1916: 184; Emery, 1921f: 27;
- combination in Tetraponera: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 796.
- Status as species: Mayr, 1904b: 4; Arnold, 1916: 184; Emery, 1921f: 27; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 796; Menozzi, 1926a: 37; Menozzi, 1930b: 81; Santschi, 1935b: 266; Finzi, 1936: 157; Collingwood, 1985: 240; Kugler, J. 1988: 256; Bolton, 1995b: 417; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 312; Taylor & McGavin, 2020: 14.
- Junior synonym of ambigua: Ward, 2006: 123; Collingwood, et al. 2011: 421; Ward, 2022: 8.

Taxonomic Notes

Taylor & McGavin (2020) treat the junior synonym Sima bifoveolata as a valid species. However, they provide no evidence to support this conclusion, stating that it is a "A fairly small ant, minor TL 3.8-4.2 mm, major TL 4.5-5.0 mm. The minor exactly matches the alitrunk and gaster of the type. This appears to be the first finding of a major worker and Ward gave no indication of a major for T. ambigua." This proposal is not followed here.

References