Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Explanation of Names
Ponerinae Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau 1835
Numbers
1400 spp. in ~50 genera total
(2)Range
Most tropical/subtropical; Ponera extends to se.Canada, Hypoponera also to se.Canada but only indoors; Pachycondyla chinensis recorded in NY & WI
Habitat
Typically nest in soil, forest litter, or rotting logs.
Food
Predacious. Some are specialist predators, such as the two US Leptogenys spp., which prey on terrestrial isopods, and Gnamptogeys which may be a specialist on certain millipedes.
Life Cycle
Most live in small colonies of a few dozen to ~200 workers. Reproduction is usually by means of winged sexuals mating outside of the nest, and the females founding a new colony in a small nest, from which she occasionally forages for prey for her larvae. Some genera have either reproductive females (Leptogenys) or males (some Hypoponera) wingless, with modified repoduction. See genera for details.
Remarks
Males of some species do not have elbowed antennae and resemble braconid wasps