''Belonopelta'' is a

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of ants in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Ponerinae Ponerinae is a subfamily of ants in the Poneromorph subfamilies group, with about 1,600 species in 47 extant genera, including ''Dinoponera gigantea'' - one of the world's largest species of ant. Mated workers have replaced the queen as the fun ...

. The genus contains two species: ''B. deletrix'' is known from

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, while ''B. attenuata'' is only known from Colombia. Members of this genus are rarely collected, and little is known about their habits. Males remain unknown for both species, and queens and larvae have only been described for ''B. deletrix''.

Species

* ''

Belonopelta attenuata ''Belonopelta'' is a Neotropical genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. The genus contains two species: ''B. deletrix'' is known from Mesoamerica and Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in Sout ...

'' Mayr, 1870 * '' Belonopelta deletrix'' Mann, 1922

References

Ponerinae Ant genera Hymenoptera of North America Hymenoptera of South America {{Ponerinae-stub