Anochetus rufus

Brown, WL Jr.,, 1978, Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. Part VI. Ponerinae, tribe Ponerini, subtribe Odontomachiti. Section B. Genus Anochetus and bibliography., Studia Entomologica 20, pp. 549-638 : 593-594

[20] A. rufus ,

originally placed by Jerdon in Odontomachus , was accepted by Emery as an Anochetus . Though there is little in the description of diagnostic value, the size (" 1 -4th of an inch") and color, "head, thorax and legs rufous; abdomen dark brown", fit fairly well the type series of A. mordax , of which the type locality is Dohnavur, 300 feet, «Tinnevelly» (Tirunelveli) District, now in Madras State, India. The type locality for rufus as here restricted is Salem District, Madras State, about 300 km N of Tirunelveli. Jerdon also says of rufus that the petiole is "raised, pointed and conic", which applies better to a side view of A. mordax than to such other large Anochetus species from peninsular India as kanariensis or sedilloti .

Jerdon also refers to a larger (11/24 inch) ant from Wynaad District (Kerala State) with finely striated thorax and "teeth of the jaw blunt" as a possible «warrior» caste of rufus , but this description evidently refers to Odontomachus simillimus , which I found to be abundant in Wynaad in 1969.

While it seems impossible to be certain that rufus and mordax refer to the same biological species, acceptance of this synonymy does no violence to the known facts, and it settles a nomenclatorial problem that has persisted in the literature for many years.