1400 Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico 



Genus TETRAMORIUM Mayr 



Tetramorium Mayr, 1855. Zool.-Bot. Gesell. Wien, Verh. 5:423. 



Type-species: Formica caespitum Linnaeus. Desig. by Girard, 1879. 

 Tetrogmus Roger, 1857. Berlin. Ent. Ztschr. 1:10. 



Type-species: Tetrogmus caldarius Roger. Monotypic. 

 Tetramorium subg. Xiphnmyrmex Forel, 1887. Schweiz. Ent. Gesell. Mitt. 7: 385. 



Type-species: Tetramoriutn (Xiphomymiex) kelleri Forel. Desig. by Wheeler, 1911. 



This genus is better represented in Asia and Africa than in North America. Three of the four 

 sp>ecies, guineense, pacificum,, and simillimum, are, with Uttle question, introduced; the other, 

 caespitum, which is also found in Europe, is generally believed to be native, though some wor- 

 kers also consider it as being introduced. This genus contains some important house pests. 



Revision: Mayr, 1870. Zool.-Bot. GeseU. Wien, Verh. 20:972-977. —Bingham, 1903. Fauna 

 British India, Hym. 2:175-189. —Emery, 1916. Soc. Ent. Ital., Bol. 47:195. —Smith, 1938. 

 Wash. Acad. Sci., Jour. 28: 126-130 (Xiphomymiex). —Smith, 1943. Ent. Soc. Wash., Proc. 

 45:1-5 (U. S. species). 



Taxonomy: Wheeler and Wheeler, 1954. Amer. Midland Nat. 52: 445, 450 (larvae). — Cole, 

 1957. Tenn. Acad. Sci., Jour. 32: 209-219 (male, Xiphomyrmex). —Brown, 1957. Breviora 

 72:1-8 (native in N. Amer. ?). —Bolton, 1976. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Ent., Bui. 34: 288, 

 359-365 (generic synonymy). 

 caespitum (Linnaeus). Ont. s. to Tenn., w. to Nebr., Mo., Wash., Nev., Calif.; Eurasia, Africa. 



Ecology: One of the most common house-infesting ants in the large cities of the Atlantic 

 coast. They also steal seeds from seedbeds, gnaw into tubers, roots, and stalks of 

 various plants, attend honeydew excreting insects, and serve as an intermediate host for 

 poultry tapeworms. Colonies are populous and nests may be in exposed soil, under cover 

 of stones, pavement, or other objects, in rotting wood, or next to building foundations. 

 Possibly introduced by early colonists from Europe but believed by some to be a native 

 sp)ecies. Parasite: Anergates atratulus (Schenck), Strongylognathus sp. Pavement ant. 

 Most common in the Atlantic seaboard states and more sparsely distributed inland. 

 FoTvnica caespitum Linnaeus, 1758. Syst. Nat., ed. 10, v. 1, p. 581. 



Myrmica (Myrmica) brevinodis var. transversinodis Enzmann, 1946. N. Y. Ent. Soc., Jour. 

 54:47. 5. 



Taxonomy: Mayr, 1870. Zool.-Bot. Gesell. Wien, Verh. 20:972. — Donisthorpe, 1927. British 

 Ants, p. 189 (each caste). —Smith, 1943. Ent. Soc. Wash., Proc. 45:2. —Brown, 1949. Psyche 

 56:47. — Wheeler and Wheeler, 1954. Amer. Midland Nat. 52:445 (larva). — Wheeler and 

 Wheeler, 1960. Ent. Soc. Wash., Proc. 62:24-25 Oarva). —Wheeler and Wheeler, 1973. 

 Psyche 80: 76, 78 (larva). 



Biology: Smith, 1915. Va. Truck Expt. Sta., Bui. 16:1-15. —Wheeler, 1919. Amer. Phil. Soc., 

 Proc. 58:23-26. —Wheeler, 1927. Psyche 34:164-165. —Donisthorpe, 1927. British Ants, pp. 

 193-198. — Metcalf and Flint, 1939. Destructive and Useful Insects, p. 771. — Mallis, 1941. 

 South. Calif. Acad. Sci., Bui. 40:74. —Brown, 1964. Ent. News 75:15. —Brown, 1957. 

 Breviora 72:1-4 (historical). —Smith, 1965. U. S. Dept. Agr., Tech. Bui. 1326:45-47 

 (economic importance). — Lange, 1961. Jour. Econ. Ent. 54:1063. — Poldi, 1963. Pavia Univ. 

 Symposium Genet, et Biol. Ital. 12:132. —Weber, 1965. Ent. News 76: 137-139 (in 

 Philadelphia area). —Brian, Elmes, and Kelley, 1967. Jour. Anim. Ecol. 36:337-342 

 (populations). — Bruder and Gupta, 1972. Ent. Soc. Amer., Ann. 65:358-367. — Gumey, 1975. 

 Ins. World Digest 2 (5): 19-26 (stinging habits). 

 guineense (Fabricius). Ga., Fla. w. to Tex.; pantropical. Ecology: Nests in smaU to moderate 



colonies in exposed soil, under stones or other objects, in rotting logs and stumps, in 



stems of plants, and in branches and under bark of trees. Occasionally a house pest. 



Introduced, spread throughout the tropical regions of the world by commerce. 



Occasionally found in greenhouses farther north in N. Amer. Guinea ant. 

 Formica guineensis Fabricius, 1793. Ent. System. 2:357. 5 . 



Taxonomy: Emery, 1909. Deut. Ent. Ztschr., p. 695 (each caste). —Smith, 1936. Puerto Rico 

 Univ., Jour. Agr. 20:831, 852. —Smith, 1943. Ent. Soc. Wash., Proc. 45:3. —Wilson and 



