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The Ants of
Africa SUBFAMILY PONERINAE - Genus Ponera |
Contents - Ponerinae - PONERINAE Introduction |
Genus Ponera Latreille (1804: 179)In Tribe PONERINI. Diagnostic Features - Middle and hind tibiae with a
single
pectinate spur; mandibles unspecialised; integument finely or densely
punctate, at least gaster with abundant pubescence; clypeus unarmed;
antenna without distinct club; eyes small, sometimes obsolete or absent
(from Wheeler, 1922). Note that Bernard (1952) separated two subgenera Ponera
and Hypoponera on the basis of the presence of a groove or at
least clear suture between the mesonotum and the propodeum in the
former, and no more than a dorsally visible suture on the latter.
Latreille's (1804) genus definition is at |
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The key defining character Taylor (1967a: 9) used for separation of Ponera from Hypoponera was the presence in Ponera of a highly characteristic subpetiolar process; usually shallow, with a rounded or bluntly angled anteroventral corner, and a more or less distinctly angled posteroventral one. The latter is composed of 2 separate, small to large, right-angled acute teeth, situated side by side, and sometimes inclined posterolaterally. Anteriorly, the subpetiolar process has a more or less distinct circular or oval thin-spot, or fenestra, visible in transmitted light. This fenestra was noted as never present in Hypoponera. R W Taylor affirmed Ponera coarctata (shown right) as the type species. |
Their re-description of H. spei, however, appears to blur the separation of the two genera. To quote (page 9): 'The pit [in the subpetiolar process] is even more strongly developed in boerorum and spei, where it often appears as a thin spot or fenestra that is reminiscent of the condition universal in Ponera. Coupled with this, in spei the subpetiolar process often has a distinct sharp posteroventral angle, so that in profile the Ponera-like condition becomes even more apparent. This is probably a convergence phenomenon because, unlike Ponera, the Hypoponera species with this fenestra do not have a posteriorly bifurcated ventral surface to the petiole sternite and the posteroventral apex of the subpetiolar process is never produced into a pair of sharp teeth that represent the apices of the bifurcation, such as is universal in genuine Ponera". This separation of two genera from a single, extremely
difficult to see, character may be sound but Bolton & Fisher offer
no other clear characters and are dismissive of the more obvious
possible separation of Hypoponera
by the presence or absence of a metanotal groove on the alitrunk. Bolton & Fisher's re-description can be found in http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/list/2011/2843.html |
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PONERINAE Introduction |
© 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014 - Brian Taylor CBiol FSB FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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