Myrmotherula is a genus of insectivorous passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. These are all small antbirds, measuring .
The genus Myrmotherula was erected by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1858. The type species is the pygmy antwren. Myrmotherula is a diminutive of the name Myrmothera that had been introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot for the antpittas. Myrmothera combines the Ancient Greek üàÃÂüÿÃÂ/murmos meaning "ant" with -ø÷ÃÂñÃÂ/-thÃÂras meaning "hunter".
The genus currently contains the following species:
Streaked group:
Grey group:
Several species previously included in this genus as the "stipple-throated group" have now been transferred to a new genus, Epinecrophylla based on a 2006 study of nest architecture, foraging behaviour and vocal repertoire. A molecular genetic study published in 2012 found that the genus was not monophyletic. As a step in creating monophyletic genera, two species that were only distantly related to the other members of Myrmotherula, the rufous-bellied antwren and the plain-throated antwren, were moved to the newly erected genus Isleria. A further study published in 2014 confirmed that the species remaining in Myrmotherula formed a paraphyletic group with respect to the genera Terenura, Formicivora, Stymphalornis and Myrmochanes.