Genus Myrmecina Curtis

The members of this genus are small, cryptobiotic ants that live in soil, leaf litter and rotten logs. Studies of two Asian species suggest that these ants are specialized as mite predators (Masuko 1995). California has a single species, M. americana Emery, that is known from scattered low­elevation sites throughout the state. It was previously considered to represent a distinct, endemic taxon ( M. californica M. R. Smith). The California populations exhibit considerable variation in color and sculpture, however, making it difficult to establish a clear distinction between them and other western populations of M. americana . References: Brown (1967c), Buschinger (2003), Buschinger and Schreiber (2002), Masuko (1995), Murakami et al. (2002), Smith (1948), Snelling (1965b), Ward (1988).