''Paltothyreus'' (also known as African stink ant) is a
monotypic genus
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
of
ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
s in the
subfamily 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 ...
. ''Paltothyreus tarsatus'', the single described species, is widely distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Workers are very large in size (17–20 mm); queens are similar to workers, but larger (23 mm) and
winged.
Habitat
''Paltothyreus tarsatus'' construct shallow nests that cover a large home range. Most of the nest is shallow tunnels used by foragers to travel without risking predation and emerging far from the nest center. The nests can have as many as 5000 workers, a number very few ant species are able to match. Although the ants are predators and feed on animals as large as beetles, the frog ''
Phrynomantis microps'' is sometimes found inside the nests as it uses them as a burrow. A skin secretion that inhibits the ant's aggression allows it to coexist with the ants.
See also
*''
Buniapone
''Buniapone'' is a monotypic genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. ''Buniapone amblyops'', the single described species, is found in Southern and Southeast Asia.
Etymology
The genus name is derived from orang bunian, supernatural forest-l ...
'', sister genus of ''Paltothyreus''
References
External links
*
Ponerinae
Monotypic ant genera
Hymenoptera of Africa
{{Ponerinae-stub