Talk:Simopone

(Bolton & Fisher 2012 p. 11) DIAGNOSIS OF QUEEN (GYNE)

'Known queens are entirely worker-like except that the mesosoma has a full complement of flight sclerites'

In ants generally, permanently wingless queens are termed 'ergatoid' (i.e. worker-like) because their thorax is similar to that of workers given a lack of wing muscles that leads to fusion of sclerites and reduction in overal thorax volume. Otherwise the gaster is larger or much larger than in workers.

In the above statement by Bolton & Fisher 2012, 'worker-like' is misleading because they refer to total body size, not the thorax which is clearly that of a flying queen. A naive reader can conclude that Simopone queens are ergatoid, although this is not the case in Africa. In Madagascar however, no dealate queens have been found, and only ergatoid queens may exist.