Amblyopone

Species of Amblyopone range from very rare and seldom seen to locally common and regularly encountered. They nest in soil under rocks or logs or in rotten wood on the ground. Colonies often lack central chambers and instead are composed of many small satellite nests each containing a few workers together with a small amount of brood, dispersed over a small area. Workers are cryptic predators in soil and leaf litter and are seldom seen foraging on the surface of the ground. Some species show a strong preference for centipedes while others will feed on a range of soft-bodied arthropods. When disturbed they move slowly underground or remain motionless. In some species queens are known to wound their larvae and feed on haemolymph taken from these non-lethal wounds. This genus was once thought to occur in many regions of the world but a revision by Yoshimura and Fisher (2012) has shown that many species once considered Amblyopone actual belong to the genus Stigmatomma and Xymmer.

Identification
The mandibles are long and slender, with at least 5 teeth which vary greatly in size and are scattered along the entire inner margins, and with a sharp, pointed tooth at their tips which is no more than twice as long as the next longest tooth. The frontal lobes extend only slightly forward of the antennal sockets and do not cover the clypeus when viewed from the front. The forward margin of the clypeus is usually armed with a number of small teeth. 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. The tibiae of the hind legs each have a large, comb-like (pectinate) spur at their tips (best viewed from the front).

In Australia species of Amblyopone are most similar to those of Onychomyrmex, but differ in having the tooth at the tip of the mandible smaller and having a distinct comb-like spur on the hind tibia.

Distribution
Recent revisionary work (Yoshimura and Fisher 2012) has reduced the known range of Amblyopone to Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. All records shown below that are beyond these limits represent locality records for species in the genus Stigmatomma and Xymmer.

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



Nomenclature

 *  AMBLYOPONE [Amblyoponinae]
 * Amblyopone Erichson, 1842: 260. Type-species: Amblyopone australis, by monotypy.
 * Amblyopone senior synonym of Amblyopopone: Forel, 1893a: 166; Emery, 1911d: 25.
 * Amblyopone senior synonym of Neoamblyopone, Protamblyopone: Brown, 1949c: 87; Brown, 1960a: 155.
 * Amblyopone senior synonym of Amblyopopona: Bolton, 1994: 164.
 * AMBLYOPOPONA [junior synonym of Amblyopone]
 * Amblyopopona Schulz, W.A. 1906: 154, unjustified emendation of Amblyopone.
 * Amblyopopona junior synonym of Amblyopone: Bolton, 1994: 164.
 * AMBLYOPOPONE [junior synonym of Amblyopone]
 * Amblyopopone Dalla Torre, 1893: 13, unjustified emendation of Amblyopone.
 * Amblyopopone junior synonym of Amblyopone: Forel, 1893a: 166.
 * NEOAMBLYOPONE [junior synonym of Amblyopone]
 * Neoamblyopone Wheeler, W.M. 1927c: 1 [as subgenus of Amblyopone]. Type-species: Amblyopone (Neoamblyopone) clarki, by monotypy.
 * Neoamblyopone junior synonym of Amblyopone: Brown, 1949c: 87.
 * PROTAMBLYOPONE [junior synonym of Amblyopone]
 * Protamblyopone Wheeler, W.M. 1927c: 1 [as subgenus of Amblyopone]. Type-species: Amblyopone (Protamblyopone) aberrans, by monotypy.
 * Protamblyopone junior synonym of Amblyopone: Brown, 1949c: 87.

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.
 * Lea, A. M. (1910). Australian and Tasmanian Coleoptera inhabiting or resorting to the nests of ants, bees, and termites. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 23: 116–230.
 * Lea, A. M. (1910). The guests of ants, bees, and termites. Vict. Nat. 27: 50–56.
 * Ohnishi, H., Imai, H. T., Yamamoto, M.-T. (2003). Molecular phylogentic analysis of ant subfamily relationship inferred from rDNA sequences. Genes Genet. Syst. 78: 419–425.
 * Wheeler, W. M. (1927). Ants of the genus Amblyopone Erichson. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 62: 1–29.
 * Yoshimura, M. & Fisher, B.L. 2012. A revision of male ants of the Malagasy Amblyoponinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with resurrections of the genera Stigmatomma and Xymmer. PLoS ONE 7(3):e33325 DOI:.