Benjamin Blanchard Reports

Xymmer: Scrabble Word, or Ant Genus?

Basically, we just like the name of Xymmer, an ant genus with two known species found mostly in Africa but also reported from Southeast Asia.

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This ant, Xymmer muticus, has no eyes, and thus cannot see you. Image: AntWeb

Because “Xymmer” apparently wasn’t fun enough, in 2016, Rijal Satria and colleagues described the Southeast Asian species in the genus: Xymmer phungi. It’s this species that gives the genus its interesting disjunct geographical distribution.

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Xymmer phungi makes things funky. Image: AntWiki

We hope you like Xymmer too!