''Buniapone'' 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 "unispe ...

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

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 ...

. ''Buniapone amblyops'', the single described species, is found in Southern and Southeast Asia.

Etymology

Pachycondyla amblyops casent0172431 head 1

The genus name is derived from orang bunian, supernatural forest-living beings in

Malay folklore Malay folklore refers to a series of knowledges, traditions and taboos that have been passed down through many generations in oral, written and symbolic forms among the indigenous populations of Maritime Southeast Asia ( Nusantara). They include ...

, with the suffix ''-pone'' from the name of subfamily.

Taxonomy

The genus was established by Schmidt & Shattuck (2014) to house the single species ''Ponera amblyops'' (at the time a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

''Pachycondyla amblyops''), which was first described by Emery (1887) from worker specimen from the Indonesian island of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

has a long and complicated taxonomic history, variously belonging to the genera ''

Ponera ''Ponera'' is a genus of ponerine ants. The name is the Latinized form (') of the Ancient Greek ' (, 'wicked, wretched'). Description Workers are very small to small in size (1–4 mm); queen are similar to workers but winged. This genus ...

'', ''Trapeziopelta'' (now '' Myopias''), '' Belonopelta'', ''

Pachycondyla ''Pachycondyla'' is a Ponerinae, ponerine genus of ants found in the Neotropics. Distribution ''Pachycondyla'' is currently distributed from southern United States to northern Argentina, but some fossil species (e.g. ''Pachycondyla eocenica, P. ...

'', '' Pseudoponera'', ''

Euponera ''Euponera'' is a Ponerinae, ponerine genus of ants distributed in the Afrotropics (including Madagascar) and eastern Asia. Workers are large (6–10.5 mm); queen are similar to workers, but larger and alate, winged. Species *''Euponera ae ...

'' and ''

''. One

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, ''B. amblyops oculatior'' from Indonesia, has been described.

Molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

by Schmidt (2013) resolved ''Buniapone'' as a

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to the strictly African genus ''

Paltothyreus ''Paltothyreus'' (also known as African stink ant) is a monotypic genus of ants in the subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more incl ...

''.

Distribution

The genus is distributed in Southern and Southeast Asia, from China to Indonesia and India.

Description

Little is known about their biology, but they have a subterranean lifestyle and are thought to be predators, although not strictly carnivorous. Workers are medium in size (5.5–6.5 mm), orange-colored, and have long and narrow mandibles with seven teeth. Queens are similar to the workers, but larger (9.25 mm). ''Buniapone'' is morphologically similar to some '' Cryptopone'' and ''

Promyopias ''Promyopias'' is an Afrotropical genus of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae containing the single species ''Promyopias silvestrii''. The rare genus has previously been regarded as a separate genus, as a subgenus and as a provisional synonymy, but w ...

'' species. However, ''Buniapone'' is more closely related to other species and the similarities are deemed to have evolved through

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q19903632 Ponerinae Monotypic ant genera Hymenoptera of Asia