''Notoncus'' is an Australian
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
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 ...
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 ...
.
The genus is known from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
(one species is also known from
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
), where the ants nest in the soil or on the ground under stones and logs in forested areas. The ants are also common in gardens and parks.
Species
The genus includes the following six species:
* ''
Notoncus capitatus''
Forel, 1915
* ''
Notoncus ectatommoides''
(Forel, 1892)
* ''
Notoncus enormis''
Szabo, 1910
* ''
Notoncus gilberti''
Forel, 1895
* ''
Notoncus hickmani''
Clark, 1930
* ''
Notoncus spinisquamis''
(Andre, 1896)
References
Formicinae
Ant genera
Hymenoptera of Australia
{{formicinae-stub