Fernandes, I.O., De Oliveira, M.L. & Delabie, J.H.C.

Description of two new species in the Neotropical Pachycondyla foetida complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) and taxonomic notes on the genus

The genus Pachycondyla was recently revised for the New World by Mackay & Mackay (2010), and the P. foetida species complex is the second largest group in terms of number of species. We add two new species to this complex: Pachycondyla bactronica sp.n. and Pachycondyla billemma sp.n., and describe the previously unknown males of P. curvinodis Forel, 1899 and P. inversa (F. Smith, 1858). Furthermore, we designate lectotypes for P. villosa (Fabricius, 1804) and P. inversa. We also provide taxonomic keys for workers, queens and males of the species in the Neotropical Region, and add information on the distribution of this species complex in Brazil. The expanded complex now consists of seven species in Brazil and 13 species for the Neotropics.

Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2014 The Author(s).

Identification key, Brazil, ants, lectotypes, designations, new species.