Tetraponera rufonigra

Tetraponera rufonigra

Classification
Subfamily: Pseudomyrmecinae
Family: Formicidae
Order: Hymenoptera
Common name: Arboreal Bicoloured Ant

One of the most common Pseudomyrmicines found in South India. These ants are aggressive predators and feed on other ants (alates especially), termites and small invertebrates. They often hunt solitarily, but hunt in small groups only when close to the nest. They often establish nests in dead and rotting wood. They can be easily identified by their pronounced postpetiole, elongate eyes and cylindrical body. Their legs and short, ideal for arboreal life, as they forage with their entire body close to the foraging surface. No distinct caste division is seen and all workers attack upon disturbance.

A Myrmarachane species of spider morphologically mimics this ant. A mimicry perhaps exhibited to keep predators away.

In the image, the ants are tearing apart a slug.

Collected
Bulltemple Road, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. August 2004.

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Also refer: Ward PS. 2001. Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the ant genus Tetraponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Oriental and Australian regions. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15:589-665.

Tetraponera allaborans

Tetraponera allaborans

Classification
Subfamily: Pseudomyrmecinae
Family: Formicidae
Order: Hymenoptera
Common name: Shiny Black Knight

Shiny black ants, with rufous coloured antennae and characteristic elongated eyes. These are arboreal ants, nesting often in rotting logs and dead wood. They are solitary foragers and usually seen foraging on the margins of leaf. This characteristic behaviour is mimicked by a Myrmarachane species of spider.

Collected
North of Wilpena Pound, South Australia (November, 2004). Just one solitary forager seen.

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