Ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s (

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Formicidae in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

) are the most species-rich of all

social insect Eusociality (Ancient Greek, Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative Offspring, brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), ove ...

s, with more than 12,000 described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

and many others awaiting description. Formicidae is divided into 21

subfamilies 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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zool ...

, of which 17 are

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

and four subfamilies are

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, described from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s. In total more than 300 genera have been described. Ants have come to occupy virtually all major terrestrial habitats, with the exception of tundra and cold ever-wet forests. They display a wide range of social behaviors, foraging habits and associations with other organisms, which has generated scientific and public interest. The following is a list of worldwide ant genera organised by subfamily.

Key

Subfamilies

Agroecomyrmecinae

The subfamily

Agroecomyrmecinae Agroecomyrmecinae is a subfamily of ants containing two extant and two fossil genera. The subfamily was originally classified in 1930 by Frank M. Carpenter as Agroecomyrmecini, a Myrmicinae tribe. Barry Bolton, Bolton raised the tribe to subfami ...

represents two extant genera and two fossil genera, once widespread in both hemispheres during the early

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

. The subfamily was originally classified as Agroecomyrmecini, a

Myrmicinae Myrmicinae is a 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 botanical subfamily ...

tribe until English myrmecologist Barry Bolton raised the tribe to subfamily status in 2003. Most specimens collected are from

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, although one

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

of an Agroecomyrmecinae species was collected from

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Amblyoponinae

The subfamily Amblyoponinae represents nine extant genera and one fossil genus. Established by Swiss myrmecologist

Auguste Forel Auguste-Henri Forel (; 1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and former eugenicist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. He is considered a c ...

in 1893, these ants are specialist predators, distributed worldwide in the tropics.

Aneuretinae

The subfamily Aneuretinae represents one extant genus and eight fossil genera established by Italian entomologist Carlo Emery in 1913. Only a single species of this subfamily is extant, the Sri Lankan relict ant (''Aneuretus simoni''), endemic to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Apomyrminae

The subfamily Apomyrminae contains the single genus '' Apomyrma'' which only has one species, the rare subterranean ant ''Apomyrma stygia'' from West Africa. Several undescribed species are known to exist, all from tropical Africa.

Brownimeciinae

The subfamily Brownimeciinae contains the single genus '' Brownimecia'' which only has one species, ''Brownimecia clavata''. It was described in 1997 after a fossilised specimen was collected from

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

amber from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and was initially placed in the subfamily

Ponerinae Ponerinae, the ponerine ants, 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 replac ...

. The species was later classified into its own subfamily in 2003 by Barry Bolton.

Dolichoderinae

The subfamily

Dolichoderinae Dolichoderinae is a subfamily of ants, which includes species such as the Argentine ant (''Linepithema humile''), the erratic ant, the odorous house ant, and the cone ant. The subfamily presents a great diversity of species throughout the wor ...

was established by Forel in 1878, which represents 28 extant genera and 20 fossil genera. The subfamily presents a great diversity of species throughout the world, mainly in the tropics. Most species are generalised scavengers, but some are predacious.

Dorylinae

The subfamily

Dorylinae Dorylinae is an ant subfamily, with distributions in both the Old World and New World. Brady ''et al.'' (2014) Synonym (taxonomy), synonymized the previous dorylomorph subfamilies (Aenictinae, Aenictogitoninae, Cerapachyinae, Ecitoninae, and Lep ...

was established by Leach in 1815, which represents 27 extant genera and one fossil genus. Many species of ant in this subfamily are known as

army ants The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited ...

that are distributed in the Old World and New World.

Ectatomminae

The subfamily Ectatomminae represents four extant genera and three fossil genera, established in 1895 by Carlo Emery. They are distributed in tropical and warm climates in the New World and Old World, as well as the Indo-Australian regions.

Formiciinae

The subfamily Formiciinae represents one extinct genus of ants dating back to the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

. Ants of the genus ''

Titanomyrma ''Titanomyrma'' is a genus of extinct giant ants which lived during the Eocene. The type species ''Titanomyrma gigantea'' and the smaller ''Titanomyrma simillima'' are known from the Eocene of Germany, while the third species ''Titanomyrma lubei' ...

'' are the largest ants ever known, with queen specimens the size of small

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

. Fossils have been collected from the state of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Formicinae

The subfamily

Formicinae The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development. Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and littl ...

represents 51 extant genera and 30 fossil genera that are globally distributed. Established by French zoologist

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...

in 1809, the subfamily has more than 3,000 described species, placing it as the second largest ant subfamily. Despite this, the hyperdiverse genus ''

Camponotus Carpenter ants (''Camponotus'' spp.) are a genus of large ants (workers ) indigenous to many parts of the world. True carpenter ants build nests inside wood, consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles or jaws, preferably in dead, ...

'' is the most diverse group of ants in the world, with more than 1,100 species described.

Haidomyrmecinae

The subfamily

Haidomyrmecinae Haidomyrmecinae, occasionally called hell ants, are an extinct subfamily of ants (Formicidae) known from Cretaceous fossils primarily found in amber from North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, spanning the late Aptian to Campanian, aroun ...

contains 9 fossil genera of specialized ants described from Cretaceous ambers. The Subfamily was previously treated as the tribe Haidomyrmecini and placed within

Sphecomyrminae Sphecomyrminae is an extinct subfamily of ants in family Formicidae known from a series of Cretaceous fossils found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Sphecomyrminae contains eight genera, divided into two tribes Sphecomyrmini and Zigrasimeciin ...

. The tribe was elevated to a subfamily in 2020.

Heteroponerinae

The subfamily

Heteroponerinae Ectatomminae is a subfamily of ants in the poneromorph subfamilies group containing four extant and three extinct genera in two tribes. The subfamily was described in 2003 when Barry Bolton divided the Ponerinae subfamily into six subfamilies. ...

represents three extant genera of ants, established in 2003 when Barry Bolton divided the subfamily

into six subfamilies. These ants are known from the

Neotropics 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 biogeog ...

of Central America and South America while '' Aulacopone relicta'' is from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Leptanillinae

The subfamily Leptanillinae represents nine extant genera of ants, established in 1910 by Carlo Emery. They are subterranean ants from Africa, Europe and a single species known from Australia. Studies about their biology is minimal.

Martialinae

The subfamily

Martialinae ''Martialis heureka'' is a species of ant discovered in 2000 from the Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil. It was described as a new species and placed as the sole member of a new subfamily, Martialinae. The generic name means "from Mars" ...

contains the single genus ''Martialis'' which only has one species, ''Martialis heureka''. The ant was discovered in 2000

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

near Manaus, Brazil. Described in 2008, the ant belongs to the oldest known distinct lineage to have diverged from the ancestors of all other ants.

Myrmeciinae

The subfamily

Myrmeciinae Myrmeciinae is a subfamily of the Formicidae, ants once found worldwide but now restricted to Australia and New Caledonia. This subfamily is one of several ant subfamilies which possess gamergates, female worker ants which are able to mate an ...

represents two extant genera and five fossil genera that were once found worldwide. Established by Carlo Emery in 1877, the extant genera are restricted to Australia,

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The notorious ant genus '' Myrmecia'' is known for their venomous stings and aggression, which has caused several human deaths in sensitive people.

Myrmicinae

The subfamily

was established by Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau in 1835. It represents 142 extant genera and 36 fossil genera that are distributed globally. It is the largest subfamily of the Formicidae, with more than 6,758 species described. The seed-harvesting ants and

fungus-growing ants Fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini) comprise all the known fungus-growing ant species participating in ant–fungus mutualism. They are known for cutting grasses and leaves, carrying them to their colonies' nests, and using them to grow fungus on ...

are well known among the Myrmicines.

Paraponerinae

The subfamily

Paraponerinae ''Paraponera'' is a genus of ants and the only genus in the subfamily Paraponerinae. The name means "near-'' Ponera''". It consists of two species: the extant '' Paraponera clavata'', also known as a bullet ant, found in the Neotropics, and the ...

contains a single genus '' Paraponera''. This genus has two species, one of which was found in Dominican amber from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

. The extant species, ''

Paraponera clavata ''Paraponera clavata'', commonly known as the bullet ant, is a species of ant known for its extremely painful Insect bites and stings, sting. It inhabits humid lowland rainforests in Central America, Central and South America. Etymology The Spe ...

'', is found in Central America and South America, and the pain from its sting is said to be greater than any other insect sting on earth.

Ponerinae

The subfamily

was established by Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau in 1835, which represents 47 extant genera and 12 fossil genera. The subfamily is among the most diverse in the family Formicidae, with more than 1,000 species described. They are mostly distributed in the tropics and subtropics.

Proceratiinae

The subfamily

Proceratiinae Proceratiinae is a subfamily of ants in the poneromorph subfamilies group, with three extant genera, of which most are tropical or subtropical, although overall distribution is worldwide. Identification The ants are relatively small to medium ...

was established by Italian entomologist

Carlo Emery Carlo Emery (25 October 1848, Naples – 11 May 1925) was an Italian entomologist. He is remembered for Emery's rule, which states that insect social parasitism (biology), social parasites are often closely related to their hosts. Early in hi ...

in 1895, which represents three extant genera and one extinct genus. Found worldwide, these ants are mainly encountered in tropical and subtropical areas. Little is known about their biology.

Pseudomyrmecinae

The subfamily

Pseudomyrmecinae Pseudomyrmecinae is a small subfamily of ants containing three genera of slender, large-eyed arboreal ants, predominantly tropical or subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate cla ...

was established by M.R. Smith in 1952, which represents three genera of ants that are primarily

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

nesting ants in the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

regions. They are found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, Australia, North America and South America.

Sphecomyrminae

The subfamily

contains 9 fossil genera of stem ants. Most fossilized ants from Cretaceous amber were placed in this subfamily, however revisions in 2017 and 2020 removed several genera and added former members of the subfamily

Armaniinae Armaniinae is subfamily of extinct ant-like hymenopterans known from a series of Cretaceous fossils found in Asia and Africa. It is usually treated as one of the stem-group subfamilies in family Formicidae, although some myrmecologists treat it a ...

''Incertae sedis''

There are several ant genera where their taxonomic placement is uncertain (''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''). These genera have not yet been assigned to any

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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

within Formicidae; 16 genera are currently listed as ''incertae sedis''.

Formerly included in Formicidae

There are several genera which were formerly placed in Formicidae, but have subsequently been removed. These genera are now placed in other families, are considered ''incertae sedis'' within Hymenoptera taxonomy, or are considered invalid.

Notes

References

{{Formicidae subfamilies

Genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

Key

Subfamilies

Agroecomyrmecinae

Amblyoponinae

Aneuretinae

Apomyrminae

Brownimeciinae

Dolichoderinae

Dorylinae

Ectatomminae

Formiciinae

Formicinae

Haidomyrmecinae

Heteroponerinae

Leptanillinae

Martialinae

Myrmeciinae

Myrmicinae

Paraponerinae

Ponerinae

Proceratiinae

Pseudomyrmecinae

Sphecomyrminae

''Incertae sedis''

Formerly included in Formicidae

See also

Notes

References