''Poneracantha'' is a genus of

ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

in the subfamily

Ectatomminae 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 Ponerinae, the ponerine a ...

. They are found in

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 ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and

. One species, '' Poneracantha triangularis'', is invasive to the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

. The genus was synonymized under ''

Gnamptogenys ''Gnamptogenys'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Ectatomminae. The genus has a wide distribution. It is known to occur in the Nearctic, Neotropic, Indomalayan and Australasian realms. Camacho et al, 2022 revised this genus, significantly redu ...

'' for a long time, however Camacho et al. 2022 reinstated the validity of this genus.

Species

As of 2024, ''Poneracantha'' contains 19 valid

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), ...

, of which one, '' Poneracantha brunoi'', is

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 ...

. *'' Poneracantha banksi'' *'' Poneracantha bispinosa'' *†'' Poneracantha brunoi'' *'' Poneracantha cuneiforma'' *''

Poneracantha enodis ''Poneracantha'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Ectatomminae. They are found in Central America, the Caribbean, and Central America. One species, ''Poneracantha triangularis'', is invasive species, invasive to the southeastern United States. ...

'' *'' Poneracantha ingeborgae'' *'' Poneracantha insularis'' *'' Poneracantha lanei'' *'' Poneracantha laticephala'' *'' Poneracantha lineolata'' *'' Poneracantha lucaris'' *'' Poneracantha mecotyle'' *'' Poneracantha mediatrix'' *'' Poneracantha menozzii'' *'' Poneracantha perspicax'' *'' Poneracantha rastrata'' *'' Poneracantha semiferox'' *'' Poneracantha triangularis'' *'' Poneracantha wilsoni''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q118463949 Taxa named by Gustav Mayr Insects described in 1897 Ectatomminae Ant genera