Abstract
Myrmecophilus americanus and Myrmecophilus albicinctus are typical myrmecophilous insects living inside ant nests. These species are ecologically important due to the obligate association with tramp ant species, including harmful invasive ant species. However, the taxonomy of these “white-banded ant crickets” is quite confused owing to a scarcity of useful external morphological characteristics. Recently, Myrmecophilus albicinctus was synonymized with Myrmecophilus americanus regardless of the apparent host use difference. To clarify taxonomical relationship between Myrmecophilus albicinctus and Myrmecophilus albicinctus, we reexamined morphological characteristics of both species mainly in the viewpoint of anatomy. Observation of genitalia parts, together with a few external body parts, revealed that Myrmecophilus albicinctus showed different tendency from them of Myrmecophilus americanus. Therefore, we recover Myrmecophilus albicinctus as a distinct species on the basis of the morphology.
Highlights
Myrmecophilus (Myrmophilina) americanus Saussure, 1877 (Orthoptera: Myrmecophilidae) (Figs 1a, 2a) is a typical example of an ant guest that lives inside ant nests
This species, similar to its congeners, eats food found inside the ant nest, either by itself or via mouth-to-mouth feeding by the ants (Wetterer and Hugel 2008)
Wasmann (1905) described M. prenolepidis from India, and Gorochov (1994) described M. (Eumyrmecophilus) microscopicus from Seychelles, but both these species have since been synonymized with M. americanus, the former by Schimmer (1909) and the latter by Hugel (2006)
Summary
Myrmecophilus (Myrmophilina) americanus Saussure, 1877 (Orthoptera: Myrmecophilidae) (Figs 1a, 2a) is a typical example of an ant guest that lives inside ant nests. This species, similar to its congeners, eats food found inside the ant nest, either by itself or via mouth-to-mouth feeding by the ants (Wetterer and Hugel 2008). Myrmecophilus americanus was first described on the basis of a single female specimen collected in Colombia (Saussure 1877). Its host-ant-species specificity is quite high; it has been collected exclusively (Wetterer and Hugel 2008) from nests of the longhorn crazy ant, Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille 1802). On the other hands, Ebner (1956) described M. robustus from Egypt though it has been synonymized with M. americanus by Chopard (1968)
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