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The Ants of
Africa SUBFAMILY PONERINAE (Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeaux, 1835: 185) |
Contents - Ponerinae |
Diagnostic Features - Pedicel of a single segment, with a narrow connection to the gaster (the helcium) so that the petiole has a distinct posterior face. Eyes usually present; clypeus well developed so that the antennal insertions are some distance behind the anterior margin of the head. Genae usually not carinate. Frontal carinae at least partially cover the antennal insertions, forming simple short semicircles or blunt trinagles. Pygidium never impressed or armed with spines or denticles. Alitrunk dorsally usually with at least one suture.
Status revised by Bolton (2003: 7, 42, 156), with separation of
(now) Subfamily
Amblyoponinae (Genera Amblyopone, Concoctio, Mystrium
and Prionopelta) and Subfamily Proceratiinae
(Genera Discothyrea, Proceratium and Probolomyrmex).
Further changes come from the work of Schmidt & Shattuck (2014) who
revised the higher classification of the subfamily. In particular
they reverted the membership of Pachycondyla to the situation
essentially prior to the publication of Bolton (1995). The revived
African genera in the Schmidt & Shattuck list are Bothroponera Mayr; Brachyponera Emery;
Euponera Forel; Hagensia Forel; Megaponera Mayr; Mesoponera Emery; Ophthalmopone Forel; and Paltothyreus Mayr. They defined two new genera, Fisheropone Schmidt & Shattuck and Parvaponera Schmidt & Shattuck. There now are no known African Pachycondyla F. Smith. Schmidt & Shattuck (2014: Fig. 48) map "exotic" presence of unnamed Genus Ponera
Latreille, in Gabon and South Africa but cite Bolton & Fisher (2011) as reporting no definitive records. Antweb - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0900367 (accessed 27.vi.2014) show a worker of Ponera swezeyi from Zanzibar but no Ponera from Gabon or South Africa.
Bolton & Brown (2002) formally describing the new Genus Loboponera, have grouped three Afrotropical genera, Plectroctena, Psalidomyrmex and Loboponera as having a common "autapomorphic" development in workers and queens, i.e. "the anteroventral articulatory surface of the petiole being long and very broad, the surface with a narrow median V-shaped longitudinal groove or central small pore-like depression".
In essence the following key (derived in part from Bolton, 1994) was posted by me long before the on-line publication of Bolton, B. & Fisher, B.L. 2008c. Afrotropical ants of the ponerine genera Centromyrmex Mayr, Promyopias Santschi gen. rev. and Feroponera gen. n., with a revised key to genera of African Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa, 1929, 1-37 - weblink - http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01929p037f.pdf [10 Nov. 2008]
Illustrated Key to Ponerine genera of Africa
1 | ![]() |
2 |
-- | ![]() |
3 |
2 | ![]() |
Odontomachus |
-- | ![]() |
Anochetus |
3 | ![]() |
4 |
-- | Ventral apex of hind tibia, when viewed from in front with the femur at right angle to the body, with two spurs, consisting of a large, pectinate spur and a second, smaller spur in front of the main spur in the direction of observation | 6 |
4 | ![]() |
Promyopias |
-- | Mandibles triangular to elongate-triangular, apex without a set of 3-4 small teeth | 5 |
5 | ![]() |
Feroponera |
-- | ![]() ![]() |
Centromyrmex |
6 | Ventral apex of hind tibia, when viewed from in front with the femur at right angle to the body, with a single, large, pectinate spur; without a second, smaller spur in front of the main spur in the direction of observation. | 7 |
-- | Ventral apex of hind tibia, when viewed from in front with the femur at right angle to the body, with two spurs, consisting of a large, pectinate spur and a second, smaller spur in front of the main spur in the direction of observation | 15 |
. | Ventral apex of hind tibia with a single large, pectinate spur | -- |
7 | ![]() |
Plectroctena |
-- | ![]() |
8 |
8 | ![]() |
Cryptopone |
-- | Basal portion of mandible without a dorsolateral pit or fovea | 9 |
9 | ![]() |
10 |
-- | ![]() |
Asphinctopone |
10 | ![]() |
Psalidomyrmex |
-- | ![]() |
11 |
11 | ![]() ![]() |
12 |
-- | ![]() |
14 |
12 | ![]() |
13 |
-- | ![]() |
Dolioponera |
13 | ![]() |
Loboponera |
-- | ![]() |
Boloponera |
14 | ![]() Bolton & Fisher (2011) noted that there are no reliable reports from sub-Saharan Africa. |
Ponera |
-- | ![]() Bolton & Fisher (2011) have "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" |
Hypoponera |
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Ventral apex of hind tibia with two spurs, consisting of a large, pectinate spur and a second, smaller spur in front of the main spur | -- |
15 | Pretarsal claws of middle and hind legs armed on the inner curvature with a tooth, either close to the midlength or near the base, or the entire inner curvature dentate to pectinate | 16 |
-- | Pretarsal claws of middle and hind legs simple, the inner curvature without a tooth medially or near the base, never dentate or pectinate | 18 |
16 | ![]() |
Leptogenys (part) |
-- | ![]() |
17 |
17 | ![]() |
Platythyrea |
-- | ![]() |
Pachycondyla (former Megaponera and Paltothyreus) |
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Pretarsal claws of middle and hind legs simple | -- |
18 | ![]() |
Phrynoponera |
-- | Petiole dorsally without a comb of 5 spines | 19 |
19 | ![]() |
Streblognathus |
-- | Petiole scale-like to nodiform but without a sharp, longitudinal crest running the length of the dorsum. Clypeus usually prominent but if shallowly concave medially then the concavity not terminating in prominent angles or teeth | 20 |
20 | ![]() |
Leptogenys (part) |
-- | ![]() |
Pachycondyla (part) |
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©2007, 2008, 2012, 2014 - Brian Taylor CBiol FSB FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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