Acanthognathus
| Acanthognathus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Acanthognathus teledectus worker | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: |
Acanthognathus Mayr, 1887 |
| Type species | |
|
Acanthognathus ocellatus Mayr, 1887 |
|
| Diversity | |
| 8 species | |
Acanthognathus is a genus of ants that are found in tropical Central and South America.
They are reddish in colour and have long trap-jaws that can be compared to those of Odontomachus. These predatory ants live in small colonies that typically consist of less than 30 adults.
The genus was established by Mayr (1887) to house the species A. ocellatus, described from a single worker found in Brazil.
Mistakenly, the name Acanthognathus was re-used by German ichthyologist G. Duncker in 1912 for a genus of syngnathid fish, but that is invalid as it is a junior homonym. These are now placed in either Dunckerocampus or Doryrhamphus, as the former sometimes is considered a subgenus of the latter. To further confuse, a genus of nemesiid spiders, Acanthogonatus, is frequently misspelled Acanthognathus.
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