Ponerinae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Hymenopterida
Ordo: Hymenoptera
Subordo: Apocrita
Superfamilia: Formicoidea

Familia: Formicidae
Subfamilia: Ponerinae
Tribus: Platythyreini – Ponerini – Thaumatomyrmecini

Genera overview: †Afropone – Anochetus – †Archiponera – Asphinctopone – Austroponera – Belonopelta – Boloponera – Bothroponera – Brachyponera – Buniapone – Centromyrmex – †Cephalopone – Corrieopone – Cryptopone – †Cyrtopone – †Desyopone – Diacamma – Dinoponera – Dolioponera – Ectomomyrmex – Emeryopone – †Eogorgites – ††Eoponerites – Euponera – Feroponera – Fisheropone – †Furcisutura – Hagensia – Harpegnathos – Hypoponera – Igaponera – Iroponera – Leptogenys – Loboponera – †Longicapitia – Mayaponera – Megaponera – Mesoponera – †Messelepone – Myopias – Neoponera – Odontomachus – Odontoponera – Ophthalmopone – Pachycondyla – Paltothyreus – Parvaponera – Phrynoponera – Platythyrea – Plectroctena – Ponera – †Ponerites – Promyopias – †Protopone – Psalidomyrmex – Pseudoneoponera – Pseudoponera – Rasopone – Simopelta – Streblognathus – †Taphopone – Thaumatomyrmex – Wadeura
Name

Ponerinae Lepeletier, 1835

Type genus: Ponera Latreille, 1804

References

Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, A. 1835: Histoire naturelle des insectes. Hyménoptères. Tome I. Paris: Roret, 547 pp.
Esteves, F.A. & Fisher, B.L. 2021. Corrieopone nouragues gen. nov., sp. nov., a new Ponerinae from French Guiana (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1074: 83–173. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1074.75551 Open access. Reference page.
Fernandes, I.O., Souza, J.L.P., Fernández C., F., Delabie, J.H.C. & Schultz, T.R. 2015: A new species of Simopelta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) from Brazil and Costa Rica. Zootaxa 3956(2): 295–300. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3956.2.10. Preview (PDF) Reference page.
Hawkes, P.G. 2018. A new species of Boloponera from Sekhukhuneland, South Africa (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae). Zookeys, 798: 23–44. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.798.28606 Reference page.
Schmidt, C. 2013: Molecular phylogenetics of ponerine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae). Zootaxa 3647(2): 201–250. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3647.2.1 Reference page.
Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The Higher Classification of the Ant Subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a Review of Ponerine Ecology and Behavior. Zootaxa 3817(1): 1–242. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1 Paywall. pmid:24943802 Reference page.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Urameisen
日本語: ハリアリ亜科
Nederlands: Oermieren

Ponerinae 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.

Description and identification

They are most easily identified from other subfamilies by possessing a single-node petiole with a constriction before the second gastral segment.[2] They are rare examples of stinging ants.[3] In addition to the sting, they can also be characterized by a single segmented petiole and the constriction of the first and second segment of the gaster. They can also be identified[how?] by the shape of their head. Female workers have twelve segmented antennae, whereas male workers have 13 segmented antennae. [2]
Behavior

These ants typically nest in soil, forest litter, or rotting logs, and are predacious.[4] 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.
Genera
Platythyreini Emery, 1901

Platythyrea Roger, 1863

Ponerini Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835

Anochetus Mayr, 1861
†Archiponera Carpenter, 1930
Asphinctopone Santschi, 1914
Austroponera Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014
Belonopelta Mayr, 1870
Boloponera Fisher, 2006
Bothroponera Mayr, 1862
Brachyponera Emery, 1900
Buniapone Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014
Centromyrmex Mayr, 1866
†Cephalopone Dlussky & Wedmann, 2012[5]
Cryptopone Emery, 1893
†Cyrtopone Dlussky & Wedmann, 2012[5]
Diacamma Mayr, 1862
Dinoponera Roger, 186
Dolioponera Brown, 1974
Ectomomyrmex Mayr, 1867
Emeryopone Forel, 1912
Euponera Forel, 1891
Feroponera Bolton & Fisher, 2008
Fisheropone Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014
Hagensia Forel, 1901
Harpegnathos Jerdon, 1851
Hypoponera Santschi, 1938
Iroponera Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014
Leptogenys Roger, 1861
Loboponera Bolton & Brown, 2002
Mayaponera Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014
Megaponera Mayr, 1862
Mesoponera Emery, 1900
†Messelepone Dlussky & Wedmann, 2012[5]

Messelepone leptogenoides male
Myopias Roger, 1861
Neoponera Emery, 1901
Odontomachus Latreille, 1804
Odontoponera Mayr, 1862
Ophthalmopone Forel, 1890
Pachycondyla Smith, 1858
Paltothyreus Mayr, 1862
Parvaponera Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014
Phrynoponera Wheeler, 1920
Plectroctena Smith, 1858
Ponera Latreille, 1804
Promyopias Santschi, 1914
†Protopone Dlussky, 1988[5]
Psalidomyrmex André, 1890
Pseudoneoponera Donisthorpe, 1943
Pseudoponera Emery, 1900
Rasopone Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014
Simopelta Mann, 1922
Streblognathus Mayr, 1862
Thaumatomyrmex Mayr, 1887
incertae sedis
†Afropone Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn, 2004
†Eogorgites Hong, 2002
†Eoponerites Hong, 2002
†Furcisutura Hong, 2002
†Longicapitia Hong, 2002
†Ponerites Dlussky & Rasnitsyn, 2003
†Taphopone Dlussky & Perfilieva, 2014

References

Bolton, B. (2015). "Ponerinae". AntCat. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
"Ponerinae". AntWiki.
Hoffman, Donald R. (2010). "Ant venoms". Current Opinion in Allergy & Clinical Immunology. 10 (4): 342–346. doi:10.1097/ACI.0b013e328339f325. PMID 20445444. S2CID 4999650.
Schmidt, C.A.; Shattuck, S.O. (2014). "The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior". Zootaxa. 3817: 1–242. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1. PMID 24943802.
Dlussky, G.M.; Wedmann, S. (2012). "The poneromorph ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae: Amblyoponinae, Ectatomminae, Ponerinae) of Grube Messel, Germany: High biodiversity in the Eocene". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (4): 725–753. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.628341. S2CID 83928415. – via Taylor & Francis (subscription required)