Paraponera clavata
Paraponera clavata | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Paraponerinae |
Genus: | Paraponera |
Species: | P. clavata |
Binomial name | |
Paraponera clavata (Fabricius, 1775) | |
Synonyms | |
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Paraponera clavata is a very large (> 2 cm long) and potentially aggressive ant of the New World tropics. Known within its range as the "bala" ant they pack a powerful sting. Workers forage arboreally at all heights in the canopy; nests are subterranean at the bases of trees, or occasionally in humus accumulations in the canopy; workers forage on live prey and extrafloral nectar; males are frequent at blacklights.
At a Glance | • Tandem running |
Photo Gallery
Identification
Its large size, conspicuous antennal scrobes, and the uniquely shaped petiole make this monotypic genus immediately recognizable.
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 50.674633° to -29.755°.
North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname.
It is found in Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Suriname, Paraguay, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica.
Distribution based on AntMaps
Distribution based on AntWeb specimens
Check data from AntWeb
Countries Occupied
Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species. |
Biology
Wetterer (1994) - P. clavata usually nest at the base of trees, but some have arboreal nests (Breed & Harrison 1989). Colonies can grow to have more than 2000 workers (Breed & Harrison 1988). Workers usually ascend their nest tree to forage in the foliage of the canopy and understory. Foragers most commonly return to the nest carrying drops of liquid in their mandibles, but they also bring back plant parts and captured invertebrate prey (Young & Hermann 1980, Bennet & Breed 1985). Foragers collect plant extrafloral nectaries (Young 1977). Janzen and Carroll (1983) observed P. clavata workers guarding and collecting nectar from extrafloral nectaries of Pentaclethra macroloba and other plants.
Morrison (2018) found cane toads were a major predator of P. clavata. Toads were observed sitting adjacent to nests and eating up to an ant a minute. The predation was deemed to have caused the demise of 5 of 12 observed nests in the Panama study area.
Young & Hermann (1980) found that tandem running occurs in this species.
Association with Other Organisms
- Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
Diptera
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Apocephalus paraponerae (a parasite) (phorid.net) (attacked).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Apocephalus paraponerae (a parasite) (Brown et al., 2015) (attracted to injured).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Apocephalus tanyurus (a parasite) (phorid.net) (attacked).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Apocephalus tanyurus (a parasite) (Brown et al., 2015) (injured).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Beckerina sp. (a parasite) (Brown et al., 2015) (injured).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Beckerina sp. (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Megaselia aurea (a parasite) (Brown et al., 2015) (injured).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Megaselia sp. (a parasite) (Brown et al., 2015) (injured).
- This species is a host for the phorid fly Megaselia sp. (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
Nematode
- This species is a host for the nematode Mermithidae (unspecified "Mermix") (a parasite) in Neotropics (Wheeler, 1928; Laciny, 2021).
Fungi
- This species is a host for the fungus Beauveria bassiana (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission within nest).
- This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps kniphofioides (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
- This species is a host for the fungus Cordyceps doiana (a pathogen) in Colombia (Kobayasi, 1981; Araujo et al., 2018; Sanjuan et al., 2015; Shrestha et al., 2017).
- This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps australis (a pathogen) (Araujo et al., 2018; Sanjuan et al., 2015; Shrestha et al., 2017).
- This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps ponerinarum (a pathogen) (Araujo et al., 2018; Sanjuan et al., 2015; Shrestha et al., 2017).
Sting
Alex Wild provides the following notes on the sting of this ant:
I was stung by a bullet ant last week in Costa Rica. On purpose. How did it feel? Bearable. Given this species’ fearsome reputation, I was expecting worse. It certainly hurt, though.
It wasn’t just the initial sear from the sting’s penetration, imparting all the sharpness one would anticipate from a relatively large hymenopteran, but the way the pain sank beneath the skin.
The bullet ant has a reputation for feeling like a firearm wound. Having never been shot, I can’t make much of the comparison. I imagine an actual shooting would be far more traumatic, but all the same I understand where the name comes from. A Paraponera sting feels more profound than the average insect sting. Like tissue or bone damage, it is a deep throbbing ache that crescendos over several hours. Unlike a honey bee sting, whose sharpness gives way quickly to a dull itch, the bullet ant’s sting is the gift that keeps on giving. Less a gunshot, I suppose, than the lasting pain following a solid crowbar to the arm. Although bearable, mine still ached when I went to bed 8 hours later. All pain was gone in the morning.
We tend not to make much of where on the body we’re stung, but stings are like real estate. Location, location, location. The forearm is a relatively mild substrate, a safe place to experiment with stings. I was once zinged on the tip of the nose by a common honey bee. Holy bejeezus. I’ll take twelve bullet ants to the arm before I wish to relive that one.
Independent colony foundation
Founding queens need to hunt before the first generation of workers become adult (i.e. non-claustral foundation). Trophic eggs were observed to be laid by first workers and given directly to medium and mature larvae (Peeters 2017).
Flight Period
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
Source: Kannowski, 1991.
- Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.
- Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
Castes
Specimens from Villa Carmen, near Pilcopata (Peru), imaged by Mônica Antunes Ulysséa
Queen
(abdomen partly removed for dissection of ovaries)
Worker
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Worker
Images from AntWeb
Worker. Specimen code casent0006789. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
Worker. Specimen code casent0106092. Photographer Michael Branstetter, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by UCDC, Davis, CA, USA. |
Worker. Specimen code casent0003165. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
Paraponera X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Paraponera clavata (worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.
Paraponera clavata. This a large, ponerine ant occurs in Central and South American rainforests. Due to its large and painful stinger it is also known as “bullet ant” or “bala” (located at OIST: CASENT0745697). See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- clavata. Formica clavata Fabricius, 1775: 394 (w.) (no state data, “Habitat in India”).
- Type-material: holotype (?) worker.
- [Note: no indication of number of specimens is given.]
- Type-locality: “Habitat in India” (error).
- [Note: type-locality incorrect as distribution of this species is Neotropical. Mayr, 1862: 731, records material from Brazil, Suriname, and French Guiana.]
- Type-depository: ZMUC.
- Lepeletier, 1835: 189 (w.q.); Smith, F. 1858b: 101 (m.); Mayr, 1862: 731 (q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1952a: 117 (l.).
- Combination in Ponera: Latreille, 1809: 128; Latreille, 1818c: 570;
- combination in Paraponera: Smith, F. 1858b: 100.
- [Combination in Camponotus: Mayr, 1884: 30 (error).]
- Status as species: Christ, 1791: 507; Fabricius, 1793: 360; Fabricius, 1804: 410; Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835: 188; Smith, F. 1858b: 100; Roger, 1861a: 19; Mayr, 1862: 731; Roger, 1863b: 18; Mayr, 1863: 440; Emery, 1890b: 42; Dalla Torre, 1893: 18; Emery, 1894k: 47; Forel, 1895b: 111; Forel, 1899c: 10; Emery, 1904b: 599; Wheeler, W.M. 1905b: 120; Forel, 1907e: 1; Forel, 1908c: 340; Forel, 1909b: 58; Emery, 1911d: 27; Santschi, 1913h: 33; Mann, 1916: 402; Wheeler, W.M. 1916c: 2; Crawley, 1916b: 377; Luederwaldt, 1918: 34; Wheeler, W.M. 1923a: 2; Borgmeier, 1923: 52; Wheeler, W.M. 1925a: 2; Menozzi, 1935b: 190; Santschi, 1939f: 160; Brown, 1958g: 205; Kempf, 1970b: 324; Kempf, 1972a: 181; Fernández, 1993: 253; Bolton, 1995b: 312; Wild, 2007b: 38; Arias-Penna, 2008c: 120; Bezděčková, et al. 2015: 122; Feitosa, 2015c: 98; Delsinne, Sonet & Arias-Penna, T.M. 2019: 637.
- Senior synonym of aculeata: Latreille, 1802c: 207; Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835: 188; Mayr, 1863: 440; Roger, 1863b: 18; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Forel, 1895b: 111; Forel, 1899c: 10; Emery, 1911d: 28; Santschi, 1913h: 33; Borgmeier, 1923: 52; Kempf, 1972a: 181; Bolton, 1995b: 312.
- Senior synonym of tarsalis: Smith, F. 1858b: 100; Mayr, 1863: 440; Roger, 1863b: 18; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Forel, 1895b: 111; Forel, 1899c: 10; Emery, 1911d: 28; Santschi, 1913h: 33; Borgmeier, 1923: 52; Kempf, 1972a: 181; Bolton, 1995b: 312.
- Material of the unavailable name spininoda referred here by Latreille, 1802c: 207; Fabricius, 1804: 410; Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835: 188; Smith, F. 1858b: 100; Mayr, 1863: 440; Roger, 1863b: 18; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Forel, 1895b: 111; Forel, 1899c: 10; Emery, 1911d: 28; Borgmeier, 1923: 52; Kempf, 1972a: 181; Bolton, 1995b: 312.
- Distribution: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela.
- aculeata. Formica aculeata Olivier, 1792: 498 (w.) FRENCH GUIANA.
- Type-material: holotype (?) worker.
- [Note: no indication of number of specimens is given.]
- Type-locality: French Guiana: Cayenne (Tugni?).
- Type-depository: MNHN.
- [Misspelled as armata by Mayr, 1863: 440.]
- Junior synonym of clavata: Latreille, 1802c: 207; Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835: 188; Mayr, 1863: 440; Roger, 1863b: 18; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Forel, 1895b: 111; Forel, 1899c: 10; Emery, 1911d: 28; Santschi, 1913h: 33; Borgmeier, 1923: 52; Kempf, 1972a: 181; Bolton, 1995b: 312.
- tarsalis. Ponera tarsalis Perty, 1833: 135, pl. 27, fig. 2 (w.) BRAZIL (no state data).
- Type-material: holotype (?) worker.
- [Note: no indication of number of specimens is given.]
- Type-locality: Brazil: “Habitat in sylvis secundum flumen Solimoes”.
- Type-depository: MNHN.
- Junior synonym of clavata: Smith, F. 1858b: 100; Mayr, 1863: 440; Roger, 1863b: 18; Dalla Torre, 1893: 19; Forel, 1895b: 111; Forel, 1899c: 10; Emery, 1911d: 28; Santschi, 1913h: 33; Borgmeier, 1923: 52; Kempf, 1972a: 181; Bolton, 1995b: 312.
Description
Karyotype
- See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.
- Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
- n = 33, 2n = 66, karyotype = 66A? (Brazil) (Costa et al., 2005; Mariano et al., 2015).
- n = 27, 2n = 54, karyotype = 12M + 42A (Brazil) (Costa et al., 2005; Mariano et al., 2015).
References
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- Delsinne, T., Sonet, G., Arias-Penna, T.M. 2019. Capitulo 21. Subfamilia Paraponerinae. Hormigas de Colombia.
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- Kannowski. P.B. 1991. Occurrence of alates of the neotropical ant, Paraponera clavata (Hymmoptera, Formicidae), at lights during the dry-wet seasons interface in Panama. J. Entomol. Sci. 26: 375-377.
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- Smith, F. 1858b. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part VI. Formicidae. London: British Museum, 216 pp. (page 101, male described; page 100, Combination in Paraponera, Senior synonym of tarsalis)
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- Troya, A., Marcineiro, F., Lattke, J.E. & Longino, J. 2022. Igaponera curiosa, a new ponerine genus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Amazon. European Journal of Taxonomy 823: 82–101 (doi:10.5852/ejt.2022.823.1817).
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- Pages using DynamicPageList3 parser function
- Tandem running
- Photo Gallery
- Need species key
- North temperate
- North subtropical
- Tropical
- South subtropical
- Phorid fly Associate
- Host of Apocephalus paraponerae
- Host of Apocephalus tanyurus
- Host of Beckerina sp.
- Host of Megaselia aurea
- Host of Megaselia sp.
- Nematode Associate
- Host of Mermithidae (unspecified "Mermix")
- Fungus Associate
- Host of Beauveria bassiana
- Host of Ophiocordyceps kniphofioides
- Host of Cordyceps doiana
- Host of Ophiocordyceps australis
- Host of Ophiocordyceps ponerinarum
- FlightMonth
- Economolab 3D
- Karyotype
- Species
- Extant species
- Formicidae
- Paraponerinae
- Paraponera
- Paraponera clavata
- Paraponerinae species
- Paraponera species
- Ssr