Ponerinae
| Ponerinae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Fighting Harpegnathos saltator | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Clade: | Poneria |
| Subfamily: | Ponerinae Lepeletier, 1835 |
| Type genus | |
| Ponera Latreille, 1804
| |
| Diversity | |
| 54 genera | |
Ponerinae, the ponerine ants, is a subfamily of poneromorph ants containing about 1,600 species in 54 extant genera, including Dinoponera gigantea - one of the world's largest species of ant. Mated workers have replaced the queen as the functional egg-layers in several species of ponerine ants. In such queenless species, the reproductive status of workers can only be determined through ovarian dissections.