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Tetramorium hispidum
Arizona, USA

photograph © Alex Wild 2007

Tetramorium hispidum, along with its sister species T. spinosum, present an unsolved evolutionary mystery of the North American ant fauna. Tetramorium, an ubiquitous and extraordinarily diverse genus in Africa and Asia, is nearly absent in the Americas.  These two species, both confined to the desert Southwest, are the only native Tetramorium in the hemisphere.  When and how the ancestor of these ants arrived is not known.

 
USA AZ Pima Co.: E Catalina Highway 
32º17'N 110º45'W 830m. 17.vii.2007.
Ant nest in soil, in shade of Prosopis tree.
#AW2912, voucher specimens deposited at ALWC.

This image is copyrighted by the photographer and cannot be used without permission. To obtain permission to use this image, please email Alex Wild. (alwild (at) myrmecos.net).  Most of the photographs on myrmecos.net are reduced from their original size and compressed for more efficient web transmission.  In some cases, higher quality versions are available.

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 20D, using a Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens.