Introduction........................................................... ................................................... 2
Short review of natural history............................................................................ 4
Materials and methods.............................................................................. ................ 5
Morphological analyses............................................................................. .......... 5
Measurements and indices.............................................................................. ..... 8
Morphometric analysis............................................................................. ......... 10
Data resources............................................................................ ............................. 11
Results........................................................................ ............................................. 11
Morphometric analysis............................................................................. ......... 11
Species delimitation......................................................................... ................. 14
Sericomyrmex genus description....................................................................... 16
Sericomyrmex worker........................................................................... ........ 16
Sericomyrmex queen............................................................................ ........ 19
Sericomyrmex male............................................................................. ......... 22
Sericomyrmex larva............................................................................ .......... 24
Sericomyrmex genus-level differential diagnosis.................................................. 26
Character discussion and terminology definitions.............................................. 28
Taxonomic synopsis............................................................................. ............. 31
Key to the worker caste of Sericomyrmex............................................................ 36
Species accounts............................................................................. ................... 36
Sericomyrmex amabilis Wheeler, 1925b....................................................... 36
Sericomyrmex bondari Borgmeier, 1937....................................................... 44
Sericomyrmex lutzi Wheeler, 1916............................................................... 52
Sericomyrmex maravalhas sp. n.....................................................................56
Sericomyrmex mayri Forel, 1912.................................................................. 61
Sericomyrmex opacus Mayr, 1865................................................................. 71
Sericomyrmex parvulus Forel, 1912.............................................................. 80
Sericomyrmex radioheadi sp. n.......................................................................86
Sericomyrmex saramama sp. n...................................................................... 88
Sericomyrmex saussurei Emery, 1894............................................................ 92
Sericomyrmex scrobifer Forel, 1911............................................................. 101
Acknowledgments............................................................... .................................. 103
References.................................................................... ......................................... 104
Supplementary material 1.................................................................................... .. 109
Supplementary material 2.................................................................................... .. 109