Preface - with explanatory notes.

Acknowledgement of the support and provision of facilities for this website; also, the contributors of specimens and information.

Frontispiece and Summary - a Quick Tour of the Ants of Nigerian Cocoa, with links to the main text.

The Many Faces of West African Ants - a selection of the many genera of ants, with links to the main text.

Taxonomic Name Indices - to find species names, modern and historic, and coded "forms" listed in modern literature; also quick access to currently recognised genera.

Catalogues

• Summary catalogue for all sub-Saharan ants (Microsoft Excel 2008 for Mac workbook); with hyperlinks to all species pages; also shown availability of descriptions, drawings & photographs; author & date of first description; and, type location.
• Summary catalogue of the distribution of all sub-Saharan ants updated August 2009 (Microsoft Excel 2003 workbook).
• The Ants of Africa Linked "clickable" map for ant distribution lists for all sub-Saharan countries with lists and linked spreadsheets for each country.

List of Maps, Illustrations, Figures and Tables.

Ancillary collections of ants from North Africa, Egypt, the Middle East and The Maldives - Miscellaneous ants.

Ants from Iran.

This is supplemented by my catalogues of Temnothorax and Lepisiota from the western Palaearctic.

The Taylor guide to "Ants of the Nigerian Forest Zone", published by the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, 1976-1980, with an update as at January 2009.

New, developed and enhanced Keys developed for this website.

Taxonomic changes and additions to previously described species first recorded on this website.

New genera and species recorded on this website - fully updated as at 8 February 2010.

Chapter 1 - Fascinating Ants

Chapter 2 - Geography & History

• The Exploration of Africa by Europeans and Colonial Development - up to ca 1907.
• General History of ant collecting and identification.
• Compilation of known ant collectors - 1770 to the present.
• General Geography of West Africa & the Congo Basin.
• Geography & History - Ghana.
• Geography & History - Nigeria.
• Geography & History - Cameroun.
• Geography & History - Ivory Coast.
• Geography & History - Guinea.
• Geography & History - Other West African Countries - Benin, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
• Geography & History - Sub-Saharan Burkino Faso, Chad, Mali & Niger.
• Geography & History - Congo Basin - Central African Republic, Congo DR, Congo - Zaïre, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Thomé.
• Geography & History - Northeast Africa - Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea & Somalia.
• Geography & History - East Africa - Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania & Mozambique.
• Geography & History - Angola.
• Geography & History - Southeastern Africa - Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia & Zimbabwe.

Chapter 3 - Mosaics

• Introduction
• Mosaics - Evidence from Ghana.
• Ghana - 1 - Strickland; Cornwell.
• Ghana - 2 - Leston; Collingwood; Bolton; Evans; Evans & Leston.
• Ghana - 3 - Room.
• Ghana - 4 - Majer.
• Ghana - 5 - Bigger.
• Ghana - 6 - Campbell; Belshaw & Bolton.
• Mosaics - Evidence from Nigeria
• Nigeria - 1 - Gerard; Booker; Entwistle; Eguagie.
• Nigeria - 2 - Taylor; Taylor & Griffin; Taylor & Adedoyin.
• Nigeria - 3 - Adenuga; Adenuga & Adeboyeku.
• Mosaics - Evidence from Cameroun
• Cameroun - 1 - Jackson.
• Cameroun - 2 - Dejean & colleagues.
• Cameroun - 3 - Watt & colleagues.
• Mosaics - Evidence from Ivory Coast
• Ivory Coast - Lévieux and colleagues.
• Mosaics - Evidence from Kenya
• Kenya and a note on the re-naming of African "Acacia" species - Palmer & colleagues.
• Mosaics - Conclusions
• Summary synthesis of the mosaic theory.

Chapter 4 - Economic Importance of Ants

• Introduction and Ants and Pests of Cocoa.
• Economic Importance - Ants as Vectors of Plant Disease.
• Ant-plant relationships.
• Doyle McKey's studies of ant-plant relationships.

Chapter 5 - Biodiversity and Niches

• Biodiversity - a historical note (Antenna, 33, 3, 2009).
• Niches.
• More on Niches.
• Ant Ecology in Guinea - Bernard and Lamotte.
• Examples of Diverse Habitats.
• Summary Tables from various published surveys.
• Ants from cocoa in Ghana - Strickland, ca 1950.
• Ants from cocoa in Ghana - Room & Majer, 1969-72.
• Ants from leaf litter in Ghana - Belshaw & Bolton, 1991-2.
• Ants from cocoa in Nigeria - Taylor & Adedoyin, 1974-76.
• Ants from modern collecting in Nigeria, other than on cocoa.
• Ants from forest in Cameroun - Dejean et al, 1991-92.
• Ants from forest and other surveys in Cameroun.
• Ants from tree canopies in Gabon - Yanoviak, Fisher & Alonso (2007).
• Ants from Mkomazi Reserve, Tanzania - Robertson (1999).
• New thoughts on diversity and distribution.
  Derived mostly from modern surveys and other collecting identified by B. Taylor (most otherwise unpublished). Also incorporating distribution information in modern taxonomic works and sources such as Antweb.com.
• Ants collected in Benin by Séverin Tchibozo, 2006 & 2007.
• Ants collected in Cameroun by Debout & Dalecky, 2001.
• Ants collected in Cameroun by A Fotso Kuate and IITA colleagues, 2008-2010.
• Ants collected in the Central African Republic by Philippe Annoyer, 1998, 2005 & 2008.
• Ants collected in the Central African Republic by P. Moretto, 2012.
• Ants collected in the Republic of the Congo - summary list.
• Ants from Brazzaville by Yves Braet & Eric Zassi, 2007.
• Ants from Réserve de Lésio-Louna by Eric Zassi, 2007.
• Ants from Dzio-Dzio and Brazzaville area by Yves Braet, 2007.
• Ants collected in Gabon by Yves Braet, 2006, with reference to the published findings (Braet & Taylor, 2008).
• Ants collected in Ghana by S. Sky Stephens, 2005.
• Ants collected in Ivory Coast by Erena Dupont, 2014.
• Ants collected in South Africa by Peter Hlavác, 2004, and others; plus further specimens collected by Sam Danflous, 2007.
• Ants photographed in South Africa by Joan Young and others, 2008.
• Ants collected in Senegal; by B. Ndiaye, 2009-11.
• Ants collected in Senegal; by Lamine Diamé, 2012.
• Ants collected in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania by Valery Grebennikov, 2002.
• Ants collected by tree canopy sampling in the Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania by George McGavin, 1995-1997. The page is linked to a draft manuscript interpreting the findings.
• Consolidated list of new Sudan records
• Ants collected in Sudan by Awatif Omer & Zuheir Mahmoud, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015.
• Ants collected in Sudan by fogging Acacia senegal, Justin Mathew, 2000-2001.
• Ants collected in miscellaneous countries
  Sahelian - Morocco, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali
  West African - Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroun
  East & Southern Africa - Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania (south)
• Ants collected in miscellaneous countries and held in the Oxford University Museum
  Niger, Gambia, Nigeria, Cameroun
  East & Southern Africa - Uganda, Tanzania (Mkomazi), Namibia, Zambia

• Ants collected in Kenya, by Roy Snelling, and posted on AntWeb.org; note identifications by me differ in some instances from those of Snelling.

• Diversity 2009 - an analysis of the distribution data

Chapter 6 - Taxonomy

• Introduction
• Taxonomy - Latin nomenclature.
• Taxonomy - Higher Levels of classification and Phylogeny.
• Taxonomy - Tribes.
• Taxonomy - Taxonomic criteria and Glossary.
• Taxonomy - Colour chart collating written descriptions and modern photographic images.

KEY TO SUBFAMILIES

Subfamily Aenictinae - Genus Aenictus - 35 species; 14 with workers described; 21 species known only from the males; a new key to workers is provided. Descriptions are available for all. Illustrations are given in the form of drawings for 11 of the workers and (genitalia) for 17 of the males, and, photographs for 32 species.

Subfamily Aenictogitoninae - Genus Aenictogiton - With new key, males only known, seven species. Descriptions of all are available with drawings for five species and photographs of all.

Subfamily Amblyoponinae - introduction and key for separation of genera.

• Genus Concoctio - monotypic, with a description, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Mystrium - one species, with a description, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Prionopelta - three species, with a new key to all three, plus one species from Madagascar; all with descriptions, drawings and photographs.
• Genus Stigmatomma - three species, plus four undescribed species (one a queen, possibly of one of the named species); with descriptions available for all the named species, with drawings of two species and photographs of all eight forms.
• Genus Xymmer - one species, with a description, drawing and photograph.

Subfamily Apomyrminae - Genus Apomyrma - monotypic, with description, drawing and photograph.

Subfamily Cerapachyinae - introduction and separation of genera.

• Genus Cerapachys - 26 species, of which three species are known only from the male; an updated key to workers of 25 species; with descriptions of all species, drawings of 17 and photographs of 21.
• Genus Simopone - 18 species, four known are only from the queen; With an updated key to workers; full or partial descriptions are available for all species, with drawings of eight and photographs of 15.
• Genus Sphinctomyrmex - two definitive species known from males (one with possible worker); plus incompletely described workers of unnamed species from Ivory Coast and Gabon; descriptions are available for two species, with drawings of two and photographs of three.
• Genus Vicinopone - one species, with description and photograph.

Subfamily Dolichoderinae - introduction and separation of genera.

• Genus Axinidris - 21 species, with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings or SEM images of 15, and photographs of 19.
• Genus Ecphorella - monotypic, the description is available, plus a drawing and a photograph.
• Genus Linepithema - one species is known as an exotic in South Africa, with description and photograph.
• Genus Tapinoma - 20 species, with an original key; descriptions are available for all, with drawings of eleven and photographs of all.
• Genus Technomyrmex - 30 species, two species known only from the queen, with a key; descriptions of all are available; drawings are available of 21 species and photographs of 29.

Subfamily Dorylinae - Genus Dorylus - introduction and key to subgenera, plus four subsections:

• Subgenus Alaopone - 13 species, workers are known only of six species; the others are known only as males; keys are given to the workers and the males; descriptions are available of all and drawings of all but one, in the case of males the illustrations are of the genitalia; there are photographs of 12.
• Subgenus Anomma - introduction; a new revision and key - 31 species, of which six are known only from sexual stages; descriptions of all species are available; drawings are included of 21 species and there are photographs of 29.
• Subgenus Dorylus - 26 species, 14 are known only from sexuals. with a key to workers; descriptions are available for all species, drawings are shown for workers of eight species, for four males (genitalia) and for three queens; also photographs of 23 species.
• Subgenus Rhogmus - Six species, only two are known as workers; descriptions are available for all, with drawings of workers of one species, of one queen and of the male genitalia of two species; keys are provided to separate the males and the workers; there are photographs of five species.
• Subgenus Typhlopone - nine species, with descriptions of all forms, also drawings and photographs.

Subfamily Formicinae - with key to genera.

• Genus Acropyga - three named species, with descriptions, drawings and photographs of all; also an undescribed species, with an electron micrograph.
• Genus Agraulomyrmex - two species from southern Africa, with descriptions and drawings, plus a photograph of one.
• Genus Anoplolepis - 10 species, with a new key to known workers; one species is known only from the male & queen and one species is known only from the queen; descriptions are available for all species, with drawings of three species and photographs of all species.
• Genus Aphomomyrmex - one species; the description, drawings and photographs are available.
• Genus Brachymyrmex - one undescribed species; the description and a photomontage are available.
• Genus Camponotus with a guide and subsections for the subgenera:
  • subgenus Mayria - no species from mainland Africa; two examples from Madagascar given.
  • subgenus Myrmacrhaphe - ten species, with a key; with descriptions of all, photograph of nine species, and drawings of all but one.
  • subgenus Myrmamblys - four species, with a key; with descriptions of all; drawings of two species and photographs of three.
  • subgenus Myrmespera - 9 species, one species known only from the queen; with a key to workers; descriptions of all, drawings of seven species and photographs of all.
  • subgenus Myrmisolepis - six species; with a key to workers; descriptions of all, drawings of three species and photographs of five.
  • subgenus Myrmonesites - two species; with descriptions and drawings; plus photographs of one.
  • subgenus Myrmopelta - five species, with a key; descriptions of all, drawings of two species and photographs of all five.
  • subgenus Myrmopiromis - seven species, with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of five species and photographs of six.
  • subgenus Myrmopsamma - two species from sandy areas of southern Africa; descriptions, drawings and photographs.
  • subgenus Myrmosaga - eight species; with a key; descriptions are available for all; with drawings of three species, and photographs of five.
  • subgenus Myrmosericus - 12 species; with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of four species and a photographs of 11.
  • subgenus Myrmotrema - 31 species, with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of seven species and photographs of 30.
  • subgenus Myrmoxygenys - monotypic, with descriptions, drawings and photographs.
  • subgenus Orthonotomyrmex - nine species, with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of six species and photographs of six.
  • subgenus Paramyrmamblys - 18 species, one known only from the queen, with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of 10 species and photographs of 17.
  • subgenus Tanaemyrmex - 64 species, with a key to all but five, one known only from the queen; with descriptions of all, drawings of 33, and photographs of 62; separate pages provide a re-description of Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) maculatus (Fabricius) sensu stricto and a separate compilation of the numerous purported subspecies and junior synonyms.
  • undetermined forms.
• Genus Cataglyphis - 13 species; with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of eight species and photographs of all.
• Genus Lepisiota - 58 species, one known only from the sexual stages; with keys to species-groups and workers; drawings of 37 species and photographs of 54.
• Genus Oecophylla - revised to contain five species; "Oecophylla longinoda", with re-examination of variability and a new key; descriptions are given of all, drawings of two and photographs of all.
• Genus Paratrechina - 20 species, one known only from the sexual stages; a key has been developed; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of 10 species and photographs of 19.
• Genus Paraparatrechina - eight species with key, descriptions and photographs of all [linked currently from Paratrechina page].
• Genus Petalomyrmex - monotypic, description, drawing and photographs provided.
• Genus Phasmomyrmex - four species, one is known only from the queen; descriptions of all are available, also drawings of three and photographs of all.
• Genus Plagiolepis - 21 species; with key; descriptions of all are available, also drawings of 12 and photographs of 20.
• Genus Polyrhachis - 51 species, one is known only from the queen; with key; descriptions of all, drawings of 45 and photographs of 49.
• Genus Prenolepis - one species with description and photograph.
• Genus Pseudolasius - five species, with key; plus descriptions and drawings of all, also photographs of three.
• Genus Santschiella - monotypic, with description, drawing and photographs.
• Genus Tapinolepis - 13 species, with a key to all known species, including one from North Africa; descriptions are available of all, with drawings of three species and photographs of 12 species.

Subfamily Leptanillinae - Genus Leptanilla - three species, with descriptions, photographs and drawings of all.

Subfamily Myrmicinae - with illustrated key to 40 genera.

Note 1 - Fernandez (2004) has synonymized Afroxyidris, Oligomyrmex and Paedalgus in the genus Carebara

Note 2 - Baroni Urbani & de Andrade (2007) have reverted Bolton's (1999) revival of Pyramica by synonymizing it and all the genera synonymized by Bolton under Pyramica under the prior genus Strumigenys. The synonymy also included Quadristruma [which I missed as under Pyramica according to Bolton (1999)]. To those, like myself, trying to identify species, this produces yet another over-large genus and, so, for simpler use of keys, I retain all the Bolton (1995) genera as subgenera under Strumigenys.

• Genus Adelomyrmex - unproven from Africa.
• Genus Afroxyidris - monotypic, with a description, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Anillomyrma - one undescribed species from Tanzania.
• Genus Ankylomyrma - monotypic, with a description, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Atopomyrmex - three species; with key, descriptions, drawings and photographs of all are available,
• Genus Baracidris - three species; with descriptions, drawings and photographs of all.
• Genus Bondroitia - two species, one known only from sexual stages; descriptions of both are available, with a drawing and photographs of both.
• Genus Calyptomyrmex - 16 species; with a key, descriptions of all are available, with drawings of thirteen, and photographs of 15.
• Genus Cardiocondyla - 13 species, one known from the queen only; with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of ten and photographs of all.
• Genus Carebara - 11 species; only five species are known from workers; with keys to workers and queens (eight species); descriptions of all are available, with drawings of seven and photographs of eight.
• Genus Cataulacus - 41 species; with a key; descriptions of all species are available; with drawings of twenty-five species and photographs of 40.
• Genus Crematogaster - introduction and an updated key to subgenera, which are considered in separate sections; and list of species and forms plus subsections covering
  • subgenus Atopogyne - 17 species; with key to workers of all but one species; descriptions are available of all but one species, with drawings of eight and photographs of all.
  • subgenus Crematogaster sensu stricto - 70 species, two are known only from the queen and two remain undescribed; with a key to workers; descriptions of all are available, plus 41 drawings and photographs of 67.
  • subgenus Decacrema - seven species, with key; descriptions are available for all, with drawings of four species and photographs of seven.
  • subgenus Eucrema - included as a single unnamed species was referred to by Bolton, with a drawing, in an unpublished key to the genus
  • subgenus Nematocrema - three species, two species are known only from the queen; two species with descriptions available and a drawing and photographs of two.
  • subgenus Orthocrema - 14 species, with a key; descriptions are available of all, with drawings of seven species and photographs of 13.
  • subgenus Oxygyne - six species; with a key, descriptions, drawings and photographs of of all are available.
  • subgenus Sphaerocrema - 33 species, three known only as queens; with a key to workers; descriptions are available of all, plus drawings of 20 species and photographs of 31.
  • subgenus uncertain.
• Genus Cyphoidris - four species; with key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings and photographs of all.
• Genus Decamorium - two species; descriptions and photographs of both species are available.
• Genus Dicroaspis - two species; descriptions, drawings and photographs of both are available.
• Genus Diplomorium - monotypic, with a description, drawing and photograph available.
• Genus Melissotarsus - four species, with key; descriptions, drawings or photographs are available of all.
• Genus Meranoplus - eight species, with key; descriptions and drawings are available for all species, with photographs of all.
• Genus Messor - 17 species; with descriptions available of all, drawings of 10 species and photographs of 16.
• Genus Metapone - one species; undescribed, a photograph is available.
• Genus Microdaceton - five species; with key; descriptions, drawings and photographs are available of all.
• Genus Monomorium - 141 species; with an introduction and key Monomorium morphological groups for all Africa based on the species-groupings adopted by Bolton (1987); in part, that format replaced the earlier subgenera, which were synonymised by Bolton; descriptions are available for all species, with drawings of 94 species and photographs of 134 (five without drawings).
• Genus Myrmicaria - 23 species, one is known from the male only. With a key and descriptions of all but one species; separate species page with descriptions of all but one species, drawings of 20 and photographs of 22.
• Genus Nesomyrmex - 26 species; with a key; descriptions are available of 9 species, also drawings and photographs of nine.
• Genus Ocymyrmex - 38 species; modern descriptions of all are available together with a modern key, plus drawings of 23 and photographs of 35.
• Genus Oligomyrmex - 35 species, four not fully described, eight known only from the worker (or worker and queen) and two known only from the queen. With keys to major and minor workers; descriptions are available of all but onespecies, with drawings of 17 species and photographs of 26.
• Genus Paedalgus - nine species are recognised, one only from the queen, with a key to workers; descriptions of all species are available, with drawings of eight species and photographs of eight (one without a drawing).
• Genus Pheidole - 100 species, including seven undescribed forms; one only from sexual morphs and one with a dubious status; descriptions are available of all but two species, with drawings of 44 and photographs of 98 (five of which are not shown as drawings); keys to both major and minor workers have been developed which cover all but seven of the species; to help with comparison of species, a number of tentative species-groups have been adopted -
  • Tentative key to major workers and Tentative key to minor workers.
• Genus Pheidologeton - eight species, of which one is a dubious record of the tramp species, P. diversus, the worker is known for only four species; descriptions are available all, with drawings of three and photographs of four.
• Genus Pongara - (provisional) new genus, one species, with genus definition, species description and photographs.
• Genus Pristomyrmex - six species, with a key; descriptions, drawings and photographs of all.
• Genus Rhoptromyrmex - five species, one known only from the queen; descriptions, drawings and photograhs are available of all.
• Genus Solenopsis - 13 species, one known only from the queen; with a new key to major and minor workers; descriptions are available of all, with drawings of eight species and photographs of ten.
• Genus Strumigenys (note I have retained the pre-Bolton, 1999, subdivisions to facilitate use of the keys)
  • subgenus Strumigenys - 54 species, with a key; descriptions are available for all but two species, with drawings of 30 species and photographs of 50.
  • subgenus Quadristruma - monotypic, with information, drawings and photographs available.
  • subgenus Pyramica
    • subgenus Cladarogenys - monotypic; with a description, drawings and photographs.
    • subgenus Epitritus - seven species, with a key; descriptions are available of all with a key to workers; drawings are given for four species and photographs of six.
    • subgenus Glamyromyrmex - 14 species, with a key; all species have descriptions available, nine with drawings, 12 with photographs.
    • subgenus Serrastruma - 16 species, one is known only from inquiline queens; with a key; with descriptions available of all; drawings of 10 species and photographs of all.
    • subgenus Smithistruma, including the synonymised Miccostruma; 47 species, with a key; descriptions are available of all; drawings of 24 species and photographs of 38.
    • subgenus Trichoscapa - monotypic tramp species, with descriptions, drawings and a photograph.
• Genus Syllophopsis - seven species; key embodied in that of Monomorium; descriptions and photographs are available of all.
• Genus Temnothorax - two species; with a key; descriptions and drawings are available of both.
• Genus Terataner - six species, with a key; descriptions are available of all, plus drawings of five species and photographs of five species, one being without a drawing.
• Genus Tetramorium - 234 species, with an introduction and a new key based on the species-groupings adopted by Bolton.
  I have retained Triglyphothrix and Triglyphothrix as subgenera for ease of separation. Descriptions are available for all, with drawings of 151 and photographs of 229.
  • Genus Tetramorium species-groups known from sub-Saharan Africa - an interactive graphical key in five parts:
    • Introduction and former Triglyphothrix species-groups.
    • former Xiphomyrmex species-groups.
    • former Tetramorium (Tetramorium) species-groups with long antennal scapes.
    • former Tetramorium (Tetramorium) species-groups with short antennal scapes and small eyes or with larger eyes and squamiform petioles.
    • former Tetramorium (Tetramorium) species-groups with short antennal scapes, larger eyes and nodiform petioles; also short frontal carinae.
    • former Tetramorium (Tetramorium) species-groups with short antennal scapes, larger eyes and nodiform petioles; also long frontal carinae.
• Genus Trichomyrmex - seven species; key embodied in that of Monomorium; descriptions and photographs are available of all.
• Genus Wasmannia - a single introduced tramp species, with descriptions available, also a drawing and photographs.
• Genus Yvesi - provisional new genus, monotypic with dealate queen only known, with description and a photograph.

Subfamily Ponerinae - with illustrated key to genera

• Genus Anochetus - 19 species, with an illustrated key; descriptions are available of all, with drawings of 16 species and photographs of all.
• Genus Asphinctopone - four species, with descriptions and drawings of all, plus photographs of three.
• Genus Boloponera - monotypic, with link to description and a photograph.
• Genus Bothroponera - 24 species, with link to description of all, drawings of 11, and photographs of 19.
• Genus Brachyponera - 3 species, with link to descriptions and photographs of all.
• Genus Centromyrmex - ten species are known from Africa; key is provided covering those and all other described species from Asia (two) and the Neotropics (three); descriptions are available of all named species, with drawings of six of the African species and all five other species, plus photographs of all the African species, and of two from other areas.
• Genus Cryptopone - one species, plus one unnamed forms; the description of the named species is available, together with a drawing and photographs; one of the unnamed forms is shown in a photograph.
• Genus Dolioponera - one species, with a description, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Euponera - six species, with link to descriptions and photographs of all.
• Genus Feroponera - one species; with linked description and photograph.
• Genus Fisheropone - one species; with linked description and photograph.
• Genus Hagensia - 3 species, with link to descriptions and photographs of all.
• Genus Hypoponera - my review of the African species descriptions and specimens, plus the descriptions of a number of Indo-Australian and American species leads me to separate the genus into -
  • a hypoponera species group and, a similoponera species group, further separated into two species complexes, the similoponera-complex, and, the squamoponera-complex; a recent review gave a total of 64 species but with no reference to my prior thinking; descriptions are available of all the species, with drawings of 22 and photographs of 60.
• Genus Leptogenys - 56 species, with an updated illustrated key; descriptions of all species are available, with drawings of 30 species and photographs of all but one species.
• Genus Loboponera - nine species are known, descriptions, drawings and photographs are available for all.
  
• Genus Megaponera - two species, descriptions, drawings and photographs are available for both.
• Genus Mesoponera - 15 species, descriptions, drawings and photographs are available for all.
• Genus Odontomachus two species; with a key and descriptions, drawings and photographs of both.
• Genus Ophthalmopone - five species, descriptions, drawings and photographs are available for all.
• Genus Paltothyreus - one species, with description, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Parvaponera - one species, with description, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Phrynoponera - six or seven species, one being known only from the queen and possibly synonymous with another known only from the worker; with a key, descriptions of all, drawings of four and photographs of all, one being without a drawing.
• Genus Platythyrea - 14 species, one known only from the sexual stages, with a key; descriptions of all are available, with drawings of eight species and photographs of 12.
• Genus Plectroctena - 18 species, with an updated key; descriptions of all are available, together with drawings of 15 species and photographs of all.
• Genus Ponera - two species, both tramp species of Holarctic origin; descriptions, drawings and photographs are available.
• Genus Promyopias - one species; with descriptions, drawing and photograph.
• Genus Psalidomyrmex - six species, with an updated key; descriptions, drawings and photographs of all
• Genus Streblognathus - two species, with descriptions of both species, drawings of one and photographs of both.

Subfamily Proceratiinae - new status as subfamily from Bolton (2003); with an introduction page, including a new key to separate the three genera known from Africa.

• Genus Discothyrea - eight species, one is known only from the queen, with a new key; descriptions of all are available, together with drawings of three species and photographs of all.
• Genus Probolomyrmex - four species, descriptions, drawings and photographs of all are available.
• Genus Proceratium - six species, descriptions of all are available, with drawings of four plus photographs of five.

Subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae -

• Genus Tetraponera - 37 species recognised, four of which are known only from the queen, with a new key; descriptions are available for all species, together with drawings of 21 and photographs of 31.

References

I have sought to include all relevant references and have followed the listing of Bolton (1995) for references in his catalogue (including the suffix letters, e.g. 1901c).

The references have been subdivided as follows:-

• Ant Taxonomy References - original descriptions and revisionary works
• General and Ant Biology References - A to K
• General and Ant Biology References - L to Z

About the author

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