Myrmelachistini Forel 1912

Ward, Philip S., Blaimer, Bonnie B. & Fisher, Brian L., 2016, A revised phylogenetic classification of the ant subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with resurrection of the genera Colobopsis and Dinomyrmex, Zootaxa 4072 (3), pp. 343-357 : 348

Tribe Myrmelachistini Forel 1912 stat. rev.

= Brachymyrmicini Emery 1925 syn. n.

Genera: Brachymyrmex (tribal transfer), Myrmelachista (tribal transfer).

Comments. These two genera form a robustly supported clade that is sister to all other Formicinae ( Figure 1 ). Shared worker characters include a reduced antennal count (9–10 segments), five mandibular teeth, petiole inclined anteriorly and/or with long posterior peduncle, and anterior tergosternal fusion of the third abdominal segment ( Bolton 2003). Both genera have the plesiomorphic palp formula 6,4 but this has been reduced to five maxillary palp segments in some Myrmelachista species ( Longino 2006).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Phylogeny of the ant subfamily Formicinae based on 959 UCE (ultraconserved element) loci (Blaimer et al. 2015). Support values are maximum likelihood bootstrap percentages. The tree depicts six major clades, here treated as tribes, and five isolated genera subtended by long branches (Gesomyrmex, Gigantiops, Myrmoteras, Oecophylla, and Santschiella, in bold font). Note that species assigned to Camponotus occur as three separate lineages within the tribe Camponotini, and that Phasmomyrmex and Forelophilus are embedded within Camponotus (sensu stricto).