Odontoponera

Odontoponera is a small genus with two species and 3 subspecies restricted to Southeast Asia, where it is one of the most commonly observed ants.

Identification
Schmidt and Shattuck (2014) - Workers of Odontoponera are easily differentiated from other ponerines by their denticulate anterior clypeal margin, toothed pronotal margins, denticulate-emarginate petiolar scale and a small, ventrally-directed tooth at the apex of the hypopygium, all of which are autapomorphic within Ponerinae. The strong striate sculpturing of Odontoponera is also characteristic, though Diacamma, Ectomomyrmex and Paltothyreus also have striate sculpturing (these genera lack the other diagnostic characters of Odontoponera).


 * Key to Eurasian and Australian Genera of Ponerinae

Distribution
Odontoponera is restricted to Southeast Asia, where its range stretches from India to the Philippines and from southern China to the Lesser Sunda Islands of southern Indonesia (Creighton, 1929).

Species richness
Species richness by country based on regional taxon lists (countries with darker colours are more species-rich). View Data



Biology
Schmidt and Shattuck (2014) - Virtually nothing is known about the social behavior of Odontoponera, but the genus has received some attention from ecologists due to its abundance. For example, Wheeler & Chapman (1925) noted the abundance of Odontoponera at a site in the Philippines, and it was common in a Bornean rainforest (Berghoff et al., 2003), was one of the dominant ants in a study in Vietnam (Eguchi et al., 2004), was the dominant ground-nesting ant in a study in Thailand (Sitthicharoenchai & Chantarasawat, 2006), was one of the most abundant ants in a forest in southern China (Zhou et al., 2007), and one of us (CAS) frequently observed it in a rainforest in peninsular Malaysia. Levy (1996) reported a density of 3,000 nest entrances per hectare in a Bornean rainforest. Colonies have over 100 workers, and the polydomous subterranean nests are linked by interconnecting tunnels (Berghoff et al., 2003).

Odontoponera workers are predominantly epigeic foragers and are generalist predators and scavengers (Levy, 1996; Hashimoto et al, 1997; Berghoff et al., 2003; Pfeiffer et al., 2006; Zhou et al., 2007). Wheeler & Chapman (1925) noted that, in the Philippines, Odontoponera "is especially fond of termites and is often seen raiding their colonies." Remarkably, Berghoff et al. (2003) observed that Odontoponera workers are effective at guarding their nest entrances from marauding Dorylus army ants and that the Odontoponera workers actually prey on the Dorylus. Ants and termites made up nearly half of the food items collected by Odontoponera transversa workers in the study by Levy (1996). Workers only forage within about a meter from the nest entrances (Eguchi et al., 2004).

Morgan et al. (1999, 2003) studied the mandibular gland and abdominal gland secretions of Odontoponera, and Leluk et al. (1989) examined the protein composition of Odontoponera venom.

Nomenclature

 *  ODONTOPONERA [Ponerinae: Ponerini]
 * Odontoponera Mayr, 1862: 717. Type-species: Ponera denticulata (junior synonym of Ponera transversa), by monotypy.

Description
Schmidt and Shattuck (2014):

Worker
Medium-sized (TL 9–12 mm; Bingham, 1903) ants with the standard characters of Ponerini. Mandibles short, triangular and massive, with a basal groove. Clypeus with a denticulate anterior margin. Eyes fairly small, placed anterior of head midline, with a subtle preocular carina (often difficult to distinguish from the striate sculpturing of the head). Pronotum with a short spine at each anterodorsal corner. Metanotal groove very shallowly impressed or reduced to a simple suture. Propodeum narrowed dorsally, the posterior margins with shallow denticulate ridges. Propodeal spiracle ovoid. Metatibial spur formula (1s, 1p). Petiole squamiform, with a sharp denticulate and emarginate dorsal margin. Gaster with only a weak girdling constriction between pre- and postsclerites of A4. Stridulitrum present on pretergite of A4. Head and mesosoma deeply striate, the gaster only lightly punctate. Head and body with scattered pilosity and only light pubescence. Color ferrugineous to black.

Queen
Similar to worker but larger (TL 11–13 mm; Bingham, 1903) and winged.

Male
See description in Smith (1858).

Larva
Described by Wheeler & Wheeler (1952).