Lateral view of gaster, adult worker. Gaster lacking tubercles on first segment. Used in Antkey to separate Atta from Acromyrmex.
Anterior view of head, adult soldier. The head of the soldier appearing wooly, covered in abundant long fine overlapping hairs. Used in Antkey to separate Atta cephalotes from Atta sexdens.
Anterior view of head, adult worker. The head smooth and shiny, not covered by hexagonal microsculpture. Used in Antkey to separate Atta cephalotes from Atta sexdens.
Lateral view of head, adult worker. Head of worker lacking pair of small teeth anterior to posterolateral spines.
Lateral view of head, adult worker. The head anterior to the posterolateral spines is smooth and not interrupted by a pair of small teeth or blunt angles. Used in Antkey to separate Atta cephalotes from Atta sexdens. This is a variable character, and should be used with caution until its usefulness is confirmed.
Anterior view of head, adult worker. cuts through a leaf while a smaller worker guards against the overzealous photographer. Captive colony at the University of Texas Photo by ©Alexander L. Wild, alexanderwild.com
Lateral view of head, adult worker. Head of worker with a pair of small teeth anterior to posterolateral spines.
Anterior view of body, surface characters, adult worker. The head and body appear dull and are covered by hexagonal microsculpture. Used in Antkey to separate Atta sexdens from Atta cephalotes.
Lateral view of head, adult worker. The head has a pair of small teeth or blunt angles anterior to the posterolateral spines. Used in Antkey to separate Atta sexdens from Atta cephalotes. This is a variable character, and should be used with caution until its usefulness is confirmed.
Anterior view of head, adult worker. The head of soldier with sparse amount of short and blunt hairs, few of which overlap. Used in Antkey to separate Atta sexdens from Atta cephalotes.
Lateral view of gaster, adult worker. Gaster lacking tubercles on first segment. Used in Antkey to separate Atta from Acromyrmex.
Lateral view of pronotum, adult worker. The pronotal spines are straight, or weakly arching anteriorly. This character may be informative for separating Atta sexdens from Atta cephalotes, but attine pronotal spines show considerable infraspecific variation and this character may well prove unreliable, and thus must be used with caution.
Anterior view of eye / ocellus, adult worker. The eye length (measured as the greatest diameter in full face view) is approximately equal to the malar distance (distance between anterior border of eye and anterolateral margin of clypeus). Used to separate Brachymyrmex heeri and Brachymyrmex patagonicus from Brachymyrmex obscurior.
Lateral view of gaster, adult worker. The first gastral tergite is marked by only sparse pubescence, giving it a shiny appearance. Used in Antkey to separate Brachymyrmex heeri and Brachymyrmex patagonicus from Brachymyrmex minutus and Brachymyrmex obscurior. Also used to separate all other Nylanderia from Nylanderia bourbonica, Nylanderia fulva and Nylanderia vaga.
Lateral view of gaster, adult worker. The first gastral tergite is covered with dense pubescence, giving it a dull appearance. Used in Antkey to separate Brachymyrmex minutus and Brachymyrmex obscurior from Brachymyrmex heeri and Brachymyrmex patagonicus. Also used to separate Nylanderia bourbonica, Nylanderia fulva and Nylanderia vaga from all other Nylanderia species.
Adult rover ants carry excavated soil from their nest. Photo by ©Alexander L. Wild, alexanderwild.com
Authors: Sarnat and Suarez
Migrated to idtools.org August 2025
Antkey archived on Scratchpad
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