Formicidae (Himenoptera) from the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico

Abstract

Ants are insects participating in many of the terrestrial food chains; some species are pests, others are natural enemies of diverse arthropods. The objective of this article was to inform about the genera and species of ants that occurrs in the Insects Museum of the Facultad de Agronomía [today Facultad de In­geniería y Ciencias (FIC)] of the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas (MIFA-UAT) and the records to the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Material of Formicidae in MIFA was determi­ned taxonomically and it was compiled information about Formicidae in different collec­tions and publications in Mexico, it was found than in the State of Tamaulipas, ants have been collected for more than two decades and than this family is represented by nine subfamilies, 53 genera and 155 species, and in MIFA-UAT by eigth subfamilies, 35 genera and 60 species. Genera with more diversity are Pheidole (20 species), Pseudomyrmex (12), Neivamyrmex (11), Camponotus (10) and Crematogaster (8). MIFA-UAT contains almost 70% of genera recorded in Tamaulipas.