| Phrynoponera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Phrynoponera gabonensis worker from the Central African Republic | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Ponerinae |
| Tribe: | Ponerini |
| Genus: | Phrynoponera Wheeler, 1920 |
| Type species | |
| Bothroponera gabonensi | |
| Diversity [1] | |
| 5 species | |
Phrynoponera is a strictly Afrotropical [2] genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. [3]
Five species are currently recognized in the genus, of which two, P. bequaerti and P. gabonensis , are widely distributed in the Afrotropical forest zone and are usually collected in leaf litter samples and pitfall traps. They nest in and under rotten wood, and sometimes directly in compacted soil. At least two species, P. gabonensis and P. sveni, will also nest in upright or fallen termitaries, but are by no means common in such places. Phrynoponera species are not generally considered to be termitophagous, but their actual diet remains unknown, so termites may form a part of it. Individuals are not particularly numerous in litter samples. Belshaw & Bolton (1994) recorded the two species that occur in Ghana (P. bequaerti, P. gabonensis) as comprising only 0.08% of individuals in the leaf litter ant fauna. [4] Beyond these few facts, nothing is known of their biology. [5]
The name Phrynoponera first appeared in a paper by Wheeler (1920), merely as a new genus-group name with the designation of an already described species as the type species. A couple of years later Wheeler (1922) presented a formal description of the genus, a synopsis of newly discovered material from the Democratic Republic of Congo, mostly infraspecific taxa, and notes on a few previously described forms. The description of the genus that Wheeler (1922) presented was adequate for its time, but superficial by modern standards and mistaken in several characters. First, Wheeler noted that the "stridulatory surface is well developed", which it is not. In fact, the stridulitrum is absent from all species except P. pulchella, where a vestigial and non-functional remnant is present. Second, he maintained that there was an "absence of any constriction between postpetiole [= first gastral segment] and gaster", when in fact differentiated presclerites are strongly developed on the second gastral segment but are specialized in form and usually concealed by the posterior portions of the sclerites of the first gastral segment. However, Wheeler did recognise that the apparent similarities between his Phrynoponera species and two Indian Pachycondyla (then Bothroponera) species, Pachycondyla bispinosa (bispinose propodeum) and Pachycondyla rufipes (denticulate dorsal margin of petiole), were superficial and possibly independently acquired. Each of these Phrynoponera-like species lack the extremely specialized morphology of the petiole sternite, helcium, and prora, as well as the characteristic 5-spinose petiole node, that are unique and consistent in the female castes of Phrynoponera. [2]
Ponerinae, the ponerine ants, 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.
Pachycondyla is a ponerine genus of ants found in the Neotropics.
Acropyga is a genus of small formicine ants. Some species can be indirect pests. A. acutiventris, which is found from India to Australia, tends subterranean, root-feeding mealybugs of the species Xenococcus annandalei. Living, gravid females are carried in the jaws of A. acutiventris queens during their nuptial flight, to establish the symbiotic association in founding colonies. Other Acropyga species have relationships with different species of mealybugs, and it could be a trait common to the whole genus.
Phrynoponera pulchella is a species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae. It was discovered and described by Bolton, B. & Fisher, B. L. in 2008.
Phrynoponera transversa has been discovered and described by Bolton, B. & Fisher, B. L. in 2008.
Feroponera is a monotypic Afrotropical genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae containing the single species Feroponera ferox. The genus is known only from a few specimens collected from an unoccupied termitary in Cameroon.
Centromyrmex is a pantropical, though mainly Afrotropical, genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. This ponerine ant was recorded for the first time in French Guiana and the most northerly point of recording was in Costa Rica. The specimens reported here were collected in a region of Amazon Forest with flight interception traps.
Plectroctena is an Afrotropical genus of ants, with most species occurring in the rainforest zones of West and Central Africa. Some species are cryptic or subterranean foragers, while others forage in open grassland terrain. The workers forage singly or in groups of 2 to 3. They nest in the earth at varying depths, or in collapsed logs. They prey mainly on millipedes, including their young or eggs.
Agroecomyrmecinae is a subfamily of ants containing two extant and two fossil genera. The subfamily was originally classified in 1930 by Carpenter as Agroecomyrmecini, a Myrmicinae tribe. Bolton raised the tribe to subfamily status in 2003, suggesting that Agroecomyrmecinae might be the sister taxon to Myrmicinae. It has since been discovered to be one of the earliest lineages of ants, a clade from the basal polytomy for all ants. In 2014, the subfamily was expanded to two tribes. The tribe Ankylomyrmini was moved from the subfamily Myrmicinae to Agroemyrmecinae.
Carebara is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is one of the largest myrmicine genera with more than 200 species distributed worldwide in the tropics and the Afrotropical region. Many of them are very tiny cryptic soil and leaf-litter inhabitants. They nest in rotten wood to which the bark is still adherent in the Afrotropical region, or may be lestobiotic nesting near other ant species. Some species are known to exist parasitically within termite nests. Little is known about the biology of the genus, but they are notable for the vast difference in size between queens and workers.
Paraparatrechina is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Formicinae. The genus contains 31 species distributed in the tropics of Africa, Asia and Australia.
Asphinctopone is a small genus of rarely encountered Afrotropical ants in the subfamily Ponerinae.
Boloponera is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. The genus contains the single species Boloponera vicans, known from a single worker specimen collected in leaf litter in the Central African Republic. It is sometimes referred to as Bry's ant after its discoverer, Brian Fisher.
Leptogenys is a genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. Leptogenys is the most diverse ponerine ant genus in the world; it is widespread throughout tropical and subtropical regions and there are over 260 extant species described. Most species have ergatoid queens, and many have falcate, bowed mandibles and are specialists on isopod prey.
Promyopias is an Afrotropical genus of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae containing the single species Promyopias silvestrii. The rare genus has previously been regarded as a separate genus, as a subgenus and as a provisional synonymy, but was reinstated at genus-rank in 2008.
Phrynoponera gabonensis is an Afrotropical species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae. P. gabonensis is the most common, widely distributed and frequently encountered member of the genus Phrynoponera. Specimens are usually retrieved from leaf litter samples but also occur in pitfall traps. The species is known to nest in and under rotten wood, in compacted soil and in termitaries.
Phrynoponera bequaerti is an Afrotropical species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae. The species is almost as common and widespread as Phrynoponera gabonensis and by far the smallest species in the genus. P. bequaerti is easily recognized by its size, lack of clypeal teeth and short, broad funicular segments. Unlike P. gabonensis and P. sveni, P. bequaerti has not been found in termitaries.
Buniapone is a monotypic genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. Buniapone amblyops, the single described species, is found in Southern and Southeast Asia.
Pachycondyla? messeliana is an extinct species of ants in the formicid subfamily Ponerinae described by from a fossil found in Europe. P.? messeliana is one of six Lutetian Pachycondyla species.
Pachycondyla succinea is an extinct species of ant in the formicid subfamily Ponerinae described from fossils found in Europe. P. petrosa is one of three middle Eocene Pachycondyla species found in Baltic amber.
This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Bolton, B.; Fisher, B.L. (2008), "The Afrotropical ponerine ant genus Phrynoponera Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." (PDF), Zootaxa , 1892: 35–52, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.1892.1.3 Please check the source for the exact licensing terms.
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