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ponerinae

{{Short description|Subfamily of ants}}

{{For|the orchid subtribe|Ponerinae (plant)}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossilrange|Turonian|Recent|Turonian-Recent}}

| image = Harpegnathos saltator fight.jpg

| image_caption = Fighting Harpegnathos saltator

| taxon = Ponerinae

| authority = Lepeletier, 1835

| type_genus = Ponera

| type_genus_authority = Latreille, 1804

| diversity_link = #Genera

| diversity = 59 genera

| diversity_ref =

}}

File:Plectroctena sp ants.jpg

Ponerinae, the ponerine ants,{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Chris |title=Molecular phylogenetics of ponerine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) |journal=Zootaxa |date=9 May 2013 |volume=3647 |issue=2 |pages=201–250 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3647.2.1|pmid=26295106 }} is a subfamily of ants in the Poneromorph subfamilies group, with about 1,600 species in 47 extant genera, including Dinoponera gigantea - one of the world's largest species of ant. Mated workers have replaced the queen as the functional egg-layers in several species of ponerine ants. In such queenless species, the reproductive status of workers can only be determined through ovarian dissections.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Description and identification

Ponerinae are most easily identified from other subfamilies by possessing a single-segmented petiole and the gaster usually being constricted between the first and second segments. Odontomachus lack this constriction, but these can be identified from their elongate, straight mandibles attached close together along the front margin of the head and with teeth only at the mandible tips. They are rare examples of stinging ants.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1097/ACI.0b013e328339f325|title=Ant venoms |year=2010 |last1=Hoffman |first1=Donald R. |journal=Current Opinion in Allergy & Clinical Immunology |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=342–346 |pmid=20445444 |s2cid=4999650 }} Females have 12-segmented antennae, whereas males have 13-segmented antennae.{{cite web |title=Ponerinae |url=https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Ponerinae |website=AntWiki}}

Behavior

These ants typically nest in soil, forest litter, or rotting logs, and are predacious.{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=C.A. |last2=Shattuck |first2=S.O. |date=2014 |title=The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3817 |pages=1–242 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1|pmid=24943802 }} They primarily prey on isopods. They mostly live in small colonies of up to 200 workers. They can be found mostly in tropical environments, but have been found in southeastern Canada and New York.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Genera

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{AntCat|430052|Ponerinae|2015|accessdate=9 January 2015}}

}}

External links

  • {{Commons category-inline|Ponerinae}}

{{Formicidae subfamilies}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q914888}}

Category:Ant subfamilies

Category:Turonian first appearances

Category:Taxa named by Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier

Category:Extant Turonian first appearances

{{Ponerinae-stub}}