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The sting apparatus and pygidium are described for eight of 20 Lordomyrma species and one of five Mayriella species. The apparatus of L. epinotaiis is distinctly different from that of other Lordomyrma species. Comparisons with other genera suggest affinities of species of Lordomyrma to species of Cyphoidris and Lachnomyrmex, while Mayriella abstinens Forel shares unusual features with those of Proatta butteli.
The definition of the Tribe Pheidologetini in the ant subfamily Myrmicinae has always been problematic. Emery (1922) erected the tribe to contain the genera Pheidologeton, Oligomyrmex, Aneleus, Lophomyrmex, Trigonogaster, Ekebomyrma, Carebara and Paedalgus, but Wheeler (1922) put all these genera in the Solenopsidini. Neither Emery nor Wheeler satisfactorily defined either tribe. More recently, Ettershank (1966) proposed the "Pheidologeton genus group" composed of Pheidologeton, Oligomyrmex (including most Aneleus), Lophomyrmex, Carebara, Paedalgus and Anisopheidole, but still uncertainty remains as to relationships of these genera and even the definitions of the genera themselves. New characters and new means of analysis are needed to help resolve this problem.
The morphology of the skeletal portions of the sting apparatus is described and compared in 63 genera of myrmicine ants in order to evaluate its taxonomic potential in this difficult subfamily. The survey covers about half of the myrmicine genera, and an but 3 small tribes (Ochetomyrmecini, Melissotarsini, Stegomyrmicini). Interspecific variation in the apparatus is described in a third of the genera examined. In addition, the sting apparatus of the primitive ponerine ant, Amblyopone pallipes is described for comparison with the primitive myrmicines; and the sting associated glands (poison gland, Dufour's gland) are illustrated for single species of Amblyopone, Basiceros, Monomorium, Aphaenogaster, Crematogasier, and Zacryptocerus.
The sting apparatus anatomy is described and compared for 24 species in six of the 9 extant genera of Ectatommini: Paraponera, Acanthoponera, Gnamptogenys, Ectatomma, Proceratium, and Discothyrea. Phylogenetic analysis sorts 15 species of Gnamptogenys into four species groups. Phylogenetic analyses on the six ectatommine genera suggest that: 1) Gnamptogenys and Ectatomma are sister genera, 2) Proceratium and Discothyrea are sister genera, 3) Acanthoponera may be more related to Gnamptogenys and Ectatomma than to the others, and 4) Paraponera may not belong with the other five genera.