A taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis of the Rimosus species group of the ant genus Cyphomyrmex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Attini)

• Grant number: 10/02560-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2010
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Roberto Ferreira Brandão
• Grantee: Emília Zoppas de Albuquerque
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The fungus-growing ant tribe Attini is composed by 15 extant and one fossil genus, distributed across the New World, with most of the species occurring in the Neotropical region. The genus Cyphomyrmex comprises opaque relatively small ants that inhabit the litter and nest in small roots, hollow trees or decomposing logs. Cyphomyrmex was described by Mayr (1862), based on a single species (C. minutus). Kempf (1962, 1964, 1966, 1968) revised Cyphomyrmex, published an identification key and suggested the existence of two species groups: Strigatus (15 spp) and Rimosus (16 spp). Some studies indicate that Cyphomyrmex is paraphyletic; however, the group Rimosus seems to be monophyletic, as its species share some exclusive morphological characteristics and most of its species cultivate the same fungus of other Attini, but in the form of yeasts. Nowadays, the Rimosus group includes 22 species although its taxonomy is considered difficult and confused. From this perspective, the present proposal aims to revise taxonomically the Rimosus species group of Cyphomyrmex and to determine the relationships among its species and with the other genera of Attini. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DIEHL, E.; DIEHL-FLEIG, E.; DE ALBUQUERQUE, E. Z.; JUNQUEIRA, L. K.. Richness of Termites and Ants in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil. Sociobiology, v. 61, n. 2, p. 145-154, 2014. (10/02560-5)