Amblyoponinae

Amblyopone pallipes, photographed by Benoit Guenard.

Belongs within: Formicidae.

The Amblyoponinae are a group of ants mostly characterised by a relatively broad attachment of the petiole to the gaster, together with dentiform setae on the clypeus. These features are absent in the Afrotropical Apomyrma stygia which is nevertheless associated with the Amblyoponinae by molecular data. Most amblyoponines are cryptic predators in soil and leaf litter, and rarely seen on the surface of the ground.

Characters (from Heterick 2009): Dentiform clypeal setae present; waist consisting of a single segment, petiole broadly articulated to abdominal segment III; apex of abdomen with a sting.

<==Amblyoponinae [Amblyoponini]
    |--+--Apomyrma [Apomyrminae] RBV08
    |  |    `--A. stygia RBV08
    |  `--+--Onychomyrmex Emery 1895 RBV08, TB85
    |     |    |--*O. hedleyi Emery 1895 TB85
    |     |    |--O. doddi Wheeler 1916 TB85
    |     |    `--O. mjobergi Forel 1915 TB85
    |     `--+--Concoctio concenta RBV08
    |        `--Prionopelta Mayr 1866 RBV08, TB85
    |             |--*P. punctulata Mayr 1866 TB85
    |             `--P. opaca Emery 1897 TB85
    `--+--Adetomyrma RBV08
       `--+--Mystrium Roger 1862 RBV08, TB85
          |    |--*M. mysticum Roger 1862 TB85
          |    `--M. camillae Emery 1889 TB85
          `--Amblyopone Erichson 1842 RBV08, FT08 (see below for synonymy)
               |--*A. australis Erichson 1842 (see below for synonymy) TB85
               |--A. aberrans Wheeler 1927 [=A. (*Protamblyopone) aberrans] TB85
               |--A. cephalotes V73
               |--A. clarki Wheeler 1927 [=A. (*Neoamblyopone) clarki] TB85
               |--A. eminia Zhou 2001 Z01
               |--A. exigua Clark 1928 TB85
               |--A. ferruginea Smith 1858 [incl. A. mandibularis Clark 1928] TB85
               |--A. fulvida Terayama 1987 I92
               |--A. gingivalis Brown 1960 TB85
               |--A. glauerti (Clark 1928) [=*Lithomyrmex glauerti] TB85
               |--A. gracilis Clark 1934 [=A. (Fulakora) gracilis] TB85
               |--A. hackeri Wheeler 1927 TB85
               |--A. leae Wheeler 1927 TB85
               |--A. longidens Forel 1910 [=A. ferruginea longidens] TB85
               |--A. lucida Clark 1934 [=A. (Fulakora) lucida] TB85
               |--A. mercovichi Brown 1960 TB85
               |--A. michaelseni Forel 1907 TB85
               |--A. mutica RBV08
               |--A. nana Emery 1914 E14
               |--A. pallipes RBV08
               |--A. punctulata Clark 1934 [=A. (Fulakora) punctulata] TB85
               |--A. rubiginous Z01
               |--A. smithi Brown 1960 TB85
               |--A. wilsoni Clark 1928 TB85
               `--A. zwaluwenburgi (Williams 1946) FT08

Amblyopone Erichson 1842 RBV08, FT08 [=Amblyopopone Forel 1893 Z01; incl. Arotropus Provancher 1887 Z01, Ericapelta Kusnezov 1955 Z01, Lithomyrmex Clark 1928 TB85, Neoamblyopone Wheeler 1927 TB85, Paraprionopelta Brown 1973 Z01, Protamblyopone Wheeler 1927 TB85]

*Amblyopone australis Erichson 1842 [incl. A. aberrans fortis Forel 1910, A. australis foveolata Wheeler 1927, A. australis minor Forel 1915, A. obscura Smith 1858] TB85

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[E14] Emery, C. 1914. Les fourmis de la Nouvelle-Calédonie & des îles Loyalty. In: Sarasin, F. & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 pt 4 pp. 393–436, pl. 12. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.

[FT08] Framenau, V. W., & M. L. Thomas. 2008. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean): identification and distribution. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25 (1): 45–85.

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[RBV08] Rabeling, C., J. M. Brown & M. Verhaagh. 2008. Newly discovered sister lineage sheds light on early ant evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 105 (39): 14913–14917.

[TB85] Taylor, R. W., & D. R. Brown. 1985. Formicoidea. In: Walton, D. W. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 2. Hymenoptera: Formicoidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea pp. 1–149. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.

[V73] Vandel, A. 1973. Les isopodes terrestres de l'Australie. Étude systématique et biogéographique. Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Série A, Zoologie 82: 1–171.

[Z01] Zhou, S. 2001. Ants of Guangxi. Guangxi Normal University Press: Guilin (China).

Last updated: 14 June 2020.