Euponera

Euponera
Euponera sikorae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Alliance:	Odontomachus genus group
Genus:	Euponera Forel, 1891
Type species
Ponera (Euponera) sikorae, now Euponera sikorae
Diversity
26 species (Species Checklist, Species by Country) Specimen labels

Evolutionary Relationships

Ponerinae Platythyreini Platythyrea Ponerini Simopelta Belonopelta Thaumatomyrmex Mayaponera Rasopone Neoponera Dinoponera Pachycondyla Diacamma Emeryopone Ponera Ectomomyrmex Cryptopone hartwigi Austroponera Parvaponera Pseudoponera Harpegnathos Hypoponera Centromyrmex Psalidomyrmex Loboponera Boloponera Plectroctena Asphinctopone Leptogenys Myopias Mesoponera melanaria Bothroponera Hagensia Buniapone Paltothyreus Promyopias Pseudoneoponera Streblognathus Brachyponera Cryptopone gilva, testacea Euponera Fisheropone Phrynoponera Anochetus Odontomachus Megaponera Ophthalmopone Mesoponera ambigua Odontoponera

Relationships among genera of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (extant taxa only, except Dolioponera, Feroponera and Iroponera) based on Schmidt & Shattuck (2014) and Longino & Branstetter (2020).

A moderately sized genus with 26 species, Euponera occurs in the Afrotropics, Madagascar and eastern Asia. Its habits are poorly known.

Identification

Euponera species fall into two groups, the first, related to Euponera sikorae, can be diagnosed by the presence of a shiny integument, basal mandibular pits, cordate frontal lobes, divided mesopleuron, deep metanotal groove, and strong gastral constriction. This combination of characters does not occur in any other ponerine genus. The second set of species, which includes Euponera sjostedti, can be separated from others by the presence of basal mandibular pits, obsolete metanotal groove, elongate or slit-shaped propodeal spiracle, simple subpetiolar process without an anterior fenestra and a prora on anterior margin of first gastral sternite. A shiny integument occurs in some other ponerines, but is absent in most large species. Basal mandibular pits occur in most species of Brachyponera and Cryptopone. Cordate frontal lobes occur in most members of the Plectroctena group as well as in Bothroponera (s.s.). A divided mesopleuron and deep metanotal groove occur in combination only in some Brachyponera, Hagensia (in which the mesopleuron is only partially divided), and in Mesoponera subiridescens. Euponera superficially most closely resembles Bothroponera (s.s.) and Pseudoponera, but differs in the presence of basal mandibular pits. Some Euponera species are also similar to Cryptopone, but these differ in having eyes and lacking mesotibial traction setae. They are also similar to Mesoponera but are generally smaller in body size with smaller eyes, larger frontal lobes, a wider head and have shorter mandibles. (Schmidt and Shattuck 2014)

See images of species within this genus

Keys including this Genus

• Key to African and Malagasy Genera of Ponerinae
• Key to Eurasian and Australian Genera of Ponerinae
• Key to Vietnamese Ponerinae Genera

 

Keys to Species in this Genus

• Key to Malagasy Euponera sikorae species-group

Distribution

Euponera occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar and India eastward to Korea and Japan and south through the Philippines to Indonesia.

Biology

Schmidt and Shattuck (2014) - Collections of Euponera sikorae have come from rainforest habitats, but nothing else is known about its ecology or behavior. Terayama (1999) reported that Euponera sakishimensis nests in soil and that workers forage on the ground, and K. Masuko observed very small colony sizes (4–11 workers) in Euponera pilosior (pers. comm. in Peeters, 1993). Villet (1994) studied the colony demographics and reproductive strategy of Euponera fossigera. This species is a generalist predator, forms small colonies (up to 50 workers), and nests in soil, leaf litter, or rotting wood. Reproduction is performed by a single ergatoid.

Life History Traits

• Mean colony size: 4-50 (Greer et al., 2021)
• Compound colony type: not parasitic (Greer et al., 2021)
• Nest site: hypogaeic (Greer et al., 2021)
• Diet class: predator (Greer et al., 2021)
• Foraging stratum: subterranean/leaf litter (Greer et al., 2021)

Castes

Worker

Schmidt and Shattuck (2014) - Large (TL 6–10.5 mm) ants with the standard characters of Ponerini. Mandibles triangular, with numerous teeth and a basal pit . Anterior clypeal margin convex or medially emarginate. Frontal lobes moderatel large to large, cordate and closely approximated for most of their length (less close in the Euponera wroughtonii group). Eyes small (3-4 facets in diameter) to moderate in size, located just anterior of head midline (in Euponera sikorae) or anteriorly on sides of head (in most species). Mesopleuron sometimes divided by a transverse groove. Metanotal groove varying from little more than a suture to deeply impressed. Metapleural gland orifice opening laterally in the E. wroughtonii group. Propodeal spiracle slit-shaped. Metatibial spur formula (1s, 1p). Petiole with a cuboidal node in most species but scale-like in a few. Girdling constriction between pre- and postsclerites of A4 apparent. Head and body varying from shiny and sparsely punctate, with sparse pilosity and pubescence to finely punctate and with abundant pilosity and scattered to dense pubescence. Color variable, ferrugineous to black.

Queen

Schmidt and Shattuck (2014) - Winged but otherwise similar to workers (Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2013).

Morphology

Worker Morphology

 • Eyes: 11-100 ommatidia • Pronotal Spines: absent • Mesonotal Spines: absent • Propodeal Spines: absent • Petiolar Spines: absent • Caste: none or weak • Sting: present • Metaplural Gland: present • Cocoon: present

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• EUPONERA [Ponerinae: Ponerini]
  • Euponera Forel, 1891b: 126 [as subgenus of Ponera]. Type-species: Ponera (Euponera) sikorae, by monotypy.
  • Euponera raised to genus: Emery, 1901a: 46.
  • Euponera junior synonym of Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1994: 164.
  • Euponera revived from synonymy: Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 83.

References

• Arnold, G. 1915. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part I. Ponerinae, Dorylinae. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 14: 1-159 (page 63, Euponera in Ponerinae, Ponerini; Euponera as genus)
• Bernard, F. 1953b [1952]. La réserve naturelle intégrale du Mt Nimba. XI. Hyménoptères Formicidae. Mém. Inst. Fr. Afr. Noire 19: 165-270 (page 189, Euponera as genus)
• Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp. (page 164, Euponera as junior synonym of Pachycondyla)
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 29, Junior synonym of Pachycondyla: Brown in preparation)
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 167, Junior synonym of Pachycondyla)
• Borgmeier, T. 1923. Catalogo systematico e synonymico das formigas do Brasil. 1 parte. Subfam. Dorylinae, Cerapachyinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae. Arch. Mus. Nac. (Rio J.) 24: 33-103 (page 70, Euponera as genus)
• Boudinot, B.E., Richter, A.K., Hammel, J.U., Szwedo, J., Bojarski, B., Perrichot, V. 2022. Genomic-phenomic reciprocal illumination: Desyopone hereon gen. et sp. nov., an exceptional Aneuretine-like fossil ant from Ethiopian amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae). Insects 13(9), 796 (doi:10.3390/insects13090796).
• Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
• Chapman, J. W.; Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327 (page 63, Euponera as genus)
• Clark, J. 1934b. New Australian ants. Mem. Natl. Mus. Vic. 8: 21-47 (page 30, Euponera as genus)
• Creighton, W. S. 1950a. The ants of North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 104: 1-585 (page 44, Euponera as genus)
• Dlussky, G. M.; Fedoseeva, E. B. 1988. Origin and early stages of evolution in ants. Pp. 70-144 in: Ponomarenko, A. G. (ed.) Cretaceous biocenotic crisis and insect evolution. Moskva: Nauka, 232 pp. (page 78, Euponera as genus)
• Emery, C. 1895l. Die Gattung Dorylus Fab. und die systematische Eintheilung der Formiciden. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Geogr. Biol. Tiere 8: 685-778 (page 767, Euponera in Ponerinae, Ponerini; Euponera as subgenus of Ponera)
• Emery, C. 1901b. Notes sur les sous-familles des Dorylines et Ponérines (Famille des Formicides). Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 45: 32-54 (page 46, Euponera as genus)
• Emery, C. 1909d. Beiträge zur Monographie der Formiciden des paläarktischen Faunengebietes. (Hym.) Teil VIII. Dtsch. Entomol. Z. 1909: 355-376 (page 364, Euponera as genus)
• Emery, C. 1911e. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125 (page 79, Euponera in Ponerinae, Ponerini [subtribe Pachycondylini]; Euponera as genus)
• Esteves, F.A., Fisher, B.L. 2021. Corrieopone nouragues gen. nov., sp. nov., a new Ponerinae from French Guiana (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1074, 83–173 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1074.75551).
• Fernandez, F., Guerrero, R.J., Sánchez-Restrepo, A.F. 2021. Sistemática y diversidad de las hormigas neotropicales. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 47, 1–20 (doi:10.25100/socolen.v47i1.11082).
• Forel, A. 1891c. Les Formicides. [part]. In: Grandidier, A. Histoire physique, naturelle, et politique de Madagascar. Volume XX. Histoire naturelle des Hyménoptères. Deuxième partie (28e fascicule). Paris: Hachette et Cie, v + 237 pp. (page 126, Euponera as subgenus of Ponera)
• Forel, A. 1917. Cadre synoptique actuel de la faune universelle des fourmis. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 51: 229-253 (page 237, Euponera in Ponerinae, Ponerini; Euponera as genus)
• Gallardo, A. 1918c. Las hormigas de la República Argentina. Subfamilia Ponerinas. An. Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. B. Aires 30: 1-112 (page 64, Euponera as genus)
• Hölldobler, B.; Wilson, E. O. 1990. The ants. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, xii + 732 pp. (page 11, Euponera as genus)
• Matte, A., Billen, J. 2012. Flight muscle histolysis in Lasius niger queens. Asian myrmecology 13, e013003 (doi:10.20362/am.013003).
• Richter, A., Hita Garcia, F., Keller, R.A., Billen, J., Economo, E.P., Beutel, R.G. 2020. Comparative analysis of worker head anatomy of Formica and Brachyponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung 78(1), 133–170 (doi:10.26049/ASP78-1-2020-06).
• Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa 3817, 1–242 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1).
• Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1985b. A simplified conspectus of the Formicidae. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 111: 255-264 (page 256, Euponera as genus)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1910b. Ants: their structure, development and behavior. New York: Columbia University Press, xxv + 663 pp. (page 135, Euponera as genus)
• Wheeler, W.M. 1915i. The ants of the Baltic Amber. Schriften der Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft zu Königsberg 55: 1-142. (page 37, Euponera in Ponerinae, Ponerini)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1922i. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VII. Keys to the genera and subgenera of ants. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 45: 631-710 (page 648, Euponera in Ponerinae, Ponerini; Euponera as genus)