Paraponera

Paraponera is a genus of ants and the only genus in the subfamily Paraponerinae.[2] The name means "near-Ponera".[3]

Paraponera
P. clavata, or bullet ant, the sole extant member of the subfamily
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Paraponerinae
Emery, 1901
Tribe: Paraponerini
Emery, 1901
Genus: Paraponera
F. Smith, 1858
Type species
Formica clavata
Diversity[1]
2 species

It consists of two species: the extant Paraponera clavata, also known as a bullet ant, found in the Neotropics, and the very small[4] fossil species Paraponera dieteri known from Dominican amber (Early Miocene; 16-19 million years ago).[5] Bullet ants are so named for the pain caused by their venomous stings. The intensely painful sting is toxic to invertebrates as well as vertebrates and a major component is the neurotoxic peptide poneratoxin.[6]

Species

References
  1. Bolton, B. (2014). "Paraponera". AntCat. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  2. "Genus: Paraponera". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  3. Wheeler, George C. (1956). Myrmecological Orthoepy and Onomatology (PDF). University of North Dakota Press. pp. 4, 17.
  4. Baroni Urbani, C. (1994). "The identity of the Dominican Paraponera (Amber Collection Stuttgart: Hymenoptera, Formicidae. V: Ponerinae, partim)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie): 1–9.
  5. "Species: †Paraponera dieteri". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  6. Aili, Samira R.; Touchard, Axel; Petitclerc, Frédéric; Dejean, Alain; Orivel, Jérôme; Padula, Matthew P.; Escoubas, Pierre; Nicholson, Graham M. (2017). "Combined Peptidomic and Proteomic Analysis of Electrically Stimulated and Manually Dissected Venom from the South American Bullet Ant Paraponera clavata". Journal of Proteome Research. 16 (3): 1339–1351. doi:10.1021/acs.jproteome.6b00948. hdl:10453/123916. PMID 28118015.


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