Hypoponera zwaluwenburgi

This species is known from several localities in Hawaii and from Japan and Singapore. The Hawaiian collections were all made from the soil of cultivated and fallow sugar-cane fields, a circumstance which suggests that the species may have been introduced into Hawaii by human activity (Wilson, 1957). Its native range is presumed to be Japan but evidence supporting this proposal is minimal.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Hawaii, Singapore. Palaearctic Region: Japan.

Nomenclature

 *  zwaluwenburgi. Pseudocryptopone zwaluwenburgi Wheeler, W.M. 1933g: 14, fig. 5 (w.) HAWAII. Combination in Ponera: Wilson, 1957b: 375; in Hypoponera: Taylor, 1967a: 12.

Worker
Length, 2-2.3 mm.

Head suboblong, nearly one-third longer than broad, with straight, subparallel sides, rounded anterior and posterior comers and distinctly concave posterior border. Eyes absent. Mandibles with three small apical teeth, the basal half of the masticatory border straight, evenly and microscopically pectinate. Clypeus bluntly subcarinate, with broadly and evenly rounded anterior border. Frontal carinae of the usual shape; frontal groove reaching to the middle of the head. Antennae stout; 8capes distinctly thickened distally, reaching a distance equal to their greatest diameter from the posterior border of the head; club of funiculus distinctly 5-jointed; joints 2-6 narrow and transverse. Pronotum less than twice as long as broad, somewhat depressed above; mesonotum transversely elliptical, very slightly more convex than the mesonotum; mesoepinotal suture quite as distinct as the promesonotal. Epinotum from above less than twice as long as broad, with nearly parallel sides, its dorsal surface rounded laterally and posteriorly; the base and declivity straight in profile, the former horizontal, the latter rather steep, the angle between rounded. Petiole as broad as long, from above trapezoidal, narrowed anteriorly and truncate behind; in profile as long as high, the node narrowed above, with straight, sloping, subequal anterior and posterior surfaces and horizontal, laterally rounded superior surface, which is twice as broad as long. Postpetiole narrow, trapezoidal, as long as broad. Gaster very long and slender, its first and second segments subequal, about one and one-half times as broad as long. Sting very large. Legs rather long, moderately stout.

Mandibles, epinotum, abdomen and legs shining, very finely punctate; dorsal surface of head, promesonotum and pleurae more opaque and more densely punctate; the punctures of the head coarser and deeper.

Pubescence yellowish, very short and fine, dense and appressed, but not concealing the surface, most conspicuous on the head; hairs erect, fine and short, sparse and rather generally distributed but more numerous on the abdomen, longer on the clypeus.

Brownish yellow; appendages not paler than the body; anterior border of clypeus and masticatory border of mandibles red.

Type Material
Described from eleven specimens taken by Mr. R. H. Van Zwaluwenburg at Waimalo, Waialua, and Waipio on Oahu Island, and also on Maui Island, Hawaii. They were living some inches below the surface in the soil of both cultivated and fallow sugar-cane fields.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Abe T., and A. Maeda. 1977. Fauna and density of ants in sugarcane fields of the southern part of Okinawa Island. Pp. 75-91 in: Ikehara, S. (ed.) 1977. Ecological studies of nature conservation of the Ryukyu Islands - (III). Naha, Okinawa: University of the Ryukyus, 202 pp.
 * Azuma, S. and M. Kinjo. 1987. Family Formicidae, In Checklist of the insects of Okinawa. The Biological Society of Okinawa, Nishihara. Pages 310-312.
 * Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
 * Li Z.h. 2006. List of Chinese Insects. Volume 4. Sun Yat-sen University Press
 * Terayama M. 1992. Structure of ant communities in East Asia. A. Regional differences and species richness. Bulletin of the Bio-geographical Society of Japan 47: 1-31.
 * Terayama M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University. Liberal Arts 17:81-266.
 * Terayama M., S. Kubota, and K. Eguchi. 2014. Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, 278 pp.
 * Terayama Mamoru. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta, Hymenoptera). The Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University 17: 81-266.
 * Terayama, M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta; Hymenoptera). The Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University 17: 81-266.
 * Yamane S., S. Ikudome, and M. Terayama. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp, 138-317.
 * Yamane S.; Ikudome, S.; Terayama, M. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp138-317.