Ponera

Species of Ponera form small nests with less than 100 workers in protected places on the ground. The most common nesting sites are in the soil with or without coverings, in cracks or between rocks, in rotten wood, or under bark or moss on rotten logs. They forage cryptically in leaf litter on the ground and are often collected using Berlese funnels.

Identification
The mandibles are triangular and with numerous small teeth along their inner margins. The forward sections of the frontal lobes and antennal sockets are very close together and are separated by at most a very narrow rearward extension of the clypeus. The node of the petiole has distinct front, top and rear faces. The underside of the petiole (subpetiolar process) with a translucent thin spot near the front and a sharp angle or pair of small teeth near the rear. The tibiae of the hind legs each have a single large, comb-like (pectinate) spur at their tips (best viewed from the front).

Ponera belongs to a set of very similar genera which includes Cryptopone, Hypoponera and Pachycondyla. Because these genera have the same overall body shape they are often confused. Ponera is unique, however, in having the lower surface of the petiole elaborate, with a thin, circular spot near the front and a sharp angle or small pair of spines towards the rear.

Castes


Ponera pennsylvanica queen.