Plectroctena mandibularis

{{Short description|Species of ant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Plectroctena mandibularis, werker, Tweeling, b.jpg

| image_caption = Plectroctena mandibularis worker

| genus = Plectroctena

| species = mandibularis

| authority = F.Smith, 1858

| synonyms =

• Plectroctena major

}}

Plectroctena mandibularis, called the ringbum ant or millipede munching ant,{{cite web | url=https://thewildebeest.co.za/04164-african-stink-ant.php#google_vignette | title=African Stink Ant - Insects of South Africa }}{{cite web | url=https://antsofthecape.blogspot.com/p/plectroctena-man.html | title=- Ants of Southern Africa -: Plectroctena mandibularis: The Ringbum millipede muncher }}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hseN8qaqTaY | title=Watch a MILLIPEDE SWARM from South Africa | website=YouTube | date=4 August 2023 }} is a large species of ant that ranges from the Eastern Cape, South Africa, through East Africa to Ethiopia. Their workers forage singly{{cite journal|last=Arnold |first=G. |title=A monograph of the Formicidae in South Africa. Part I. |journal=Annals of the South African Museum |year=1915 |volume=14 |pages=1–159}} in open terrain, and their colony size seldom exceeds fifty individuals.{{cite journal | last1=Bolton | first1=B. | last2=Gotwald | first2=W. H. | last3=Leroux | first3=J-M | title=A new West African ant of the genus Plectroctena with ecological notes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) | journal=Annales de l'Université d'Abidjan, Série E (Écologie) | year=1976 | url=http://gap.entclub.org/taxonomists/Bolton/Plectroctena.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912145439/http://gap.entclub.org/taxonomists/Bolton/Plectroctena.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 September 2011 | accessdate=5 September 2013 }} It is one of the large Plectroctena species, including P. conjugata and P. minor, that specialize on adult millipedes as prey. The nest is composed of chambers that are typically located two feet or more below the surface, and the nest entrances are usually marked by large piles of earth. They get their colloquial, common name from their tendency to prey on millipedes.