Alfaria

Alfaria
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ectatomminae
Tribe:	Ectatommini
Genus:	Alfaria Emery, 1896
Type species
Alfaria simulans
Diversity
9 species (Species Checklist, Species by Country) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Opisthoscyphus Mann, 1922

Identification

See images of species within this genus

Keys including this Genus

• Key to Ectatomminae Genera

 

Keys to Species in this Genus

• Key to Alfaria species

Distribution

Species by Region

Number of species within biogeographic regions, along with the total number of species for each region.

	Afrotropical Region	Australasian Region	Indo-Australian Region	Malagasy Region	Nearctic Region	Neotropical Region	Oriental Region	Palaearctic Region
Species	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0
Total Species	2851	1736	3047	932	840	4391	1767	2925

Phylogeny

Ectatomminae

Heteroponerini Bazboltonia  (1 species, 0 fossil species) Acanthoponera  (4 species, 0 fossil species) Heteroponera  (27 species, 0 fossil species) Ectatommini Ectatomma  (15 species, 1 fossil species) Rhytidoponera  (104 species, 3 fossil species) Stictoponera  (43 species, 0 fossil species) Gnamptogenys  (32 species, 5 fossil species) Typhlomyrmex  (11 species, 0 fossil species) Poneracantha  (18 species, 1 fossil species) Alfaria  (9 species, 0 fossil species) Holcoponera  (40 species, 0 fossil species)

See Phylogeny of Ectatomminae for details.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• ALFARIA [Ectatomminae: Ectatommini]
  • Alfaria Emery, 1896e: 177 (diagnosis in key). Type-species: Alfaria simulans Emery, 1896e: 177 (footnote), by original designation.
• OPISTHOSCYPHUS [junior synonym of Alfaria]
  • Opisthoscyphus Mann, 1922: 4. Type-species: Opisthoscyphus scabrosus Mann, 1922: 5 (junior synonym of Alfaria minuta Emery, 1896g: 106), by original designation.

Taxonomic history

• [Alfaria also described as new by Emery, 1896g: 41.]
• Alfaria in Ponerinae: Emery, 1896e: 177 [Ponerinae].
• Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ponerini: Forel, 1899c: 3.
• Alfaria in Pachycondylinae, Ectatommini: Ashmead, 1905b: 382.
• Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini: Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 135; Emery, 1911d: 46; Forel, 1917: 236; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 642; subsequent authors.
• Alfaria as junior synonym of Gnamptogenys: Brown, 1958g: 211; Kempf, 1972a: 111; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1337; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990: 10; Bolton, 1995b: 19; Bolton, 2003: 174.
• Alfaria as genus: Forel, 1899c: 3; Ashmead, 1905b: 382; Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 135; Emery, 1911d: 46; Forel, 1917: 236; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 642; Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 10 (diagnosis).
• Alfaria as senior synonym of Opisthoscyphus: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115; Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 10.
• Alfaria references: Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 10 (diagnosis).
• [Note: for references pre-2022 see under Gnamptogenys.]

References

• Ashmead, W. H. 1905c. A skeleton of a new arrangement of the families, subfamilies, tribes and genera of the ants, or the superfamily Formicoidea. Can. Entomol. 37: 381-384 (page 382, Alfaria in Pachycondylinae, Ectatommini)
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 174, Alfaria as junior synonym of Gnamptogenys)
• Borgmeier, T. 1957a. Myrmecologische Studien, I. An. Acad. Bras. Cienc. 29: 103-128 (page 115, Alfaria senior synonym of Opisthoscyphus)
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1958g. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. II. Tribe Ectatommini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 118: 173-362 (page 211, Alfaria as junior synonym of Gnamptogenys)
• Camacho, G.P., Franco, W., Branstetter, M.G., Pie, M.R., Longino, J.T., Schultz, T.R., Feitosa, R.M. 2022. UCE phylogenomics resolves major relationships among Ectaheteromorph ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae, Heteroponerinae): A new classification for the subfamilies and the description of a new genus. Insect Systematics and Diversity 6(1): 5; 1–20 (doi:10.1093/isd/ixab026).
• Emery, C. 1896e. Clef analytique des genres de la famille des Formicides, pour la détermination des neutres. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 40: 172-189 (page 177, Alfaria as genus (diagnosis in key). )
• Emery, C. 1896g. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 28: 33-107 (page 41, [Alfaria also described as new])
• Emery, C. 1911e. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125 (page 46, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)
• Forel, A. 1899b. Formicidae. [part]. Biol. Cent.-Am. Hym. 3: 1-24 (page 3, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ponerini)
• Forel, A. 1917. Cadre synoptique actuel de la faune universelle des fourmis. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 51: 229-253 (page 236, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1910b. Ants: their structure, development and behavior. New York: Columbia University Press, xxv + 663 pp. (page 135, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1922i. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VII. Keys to the genera and subgenera of ants. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 45: 631-710 (page 642, Alfaria in Ponerinae, Ectatommini)