Myopopone

These rare ants nest in rotten wood or under bark, and single colonies may be composed of several small nests scattered over a small area. They feed on large, soft-bodied insect larvae and may bring their larvae to food sources rather than attempt to move especially large prey back to their nest.

Identification
The mandibles are long and slender, with numerous (always more than 5) teeth which vary greatly in size and are scattered along the inner margins, and with a sharp, pointed tooth at the tip which is only slightly longer than the next longest tooth. The frontal lobes are large and extend well forward of the insertion point of the scapes, and when viewed from the front they cover the underlying clypeus and often form part of the front margin of the head. The antennae have the last few segments distinctly flattened in cross-section. The petiole has distinct front and upper faces but lacks a rear face, and its attachment to the gaster is broad and approximately the same height as the petiole so that the upper surfaces of petiole and gaster are separated by at most a shallow impression.

Although these ants are superficially similar to some Amblyopone, the presence of expanded and projecting frontal lobes and flattened tips of the antennae will separate these genera.

Castes


Worker of M. castanea from Queensland.

Nomenclature

 *  MYOPOPONE [Amblyoponinae]
 * Myopopone Roger, 1861a: 49. Type-species: Myopopone maculata (junior synonym of Amblyopone castanea), by subsequent designation of Bingham, 1903: 33.

Additional References

 * Brown, W. L., Jr. (1960). Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. III. Tribe Amblyoponini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 122: 143–230.