''Tetraponera rufonigra'', is a
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
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 ...
belonging to 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 ...
. It is distributed across Southeast Asia Commonly called the bi-coloured arboreal ant, they are arboreal and build small nests which are excavated holes usually in dried parts of trees. They are active hunters and hunt small
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s. They have a well developed sting and when stung can cause
allergic
Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermatitis, alle ...
reactions in
human beings
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are great apes characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intellige ...
.
The ant is known as "Hath polayaa" in Sinhala.
Subspecies
*''Tetraponera rufonigra ceylonensis''
(Forel, 1909)
*''Tetraponera rufonigra rufonigra''
(Jerdon, 1851)
*''Tetraponera rufonigra testaceonigra''
(Forel, 1903)
*''Tetraponera rufonigra yeensis''
(Forel, 1902)
References
External links
*
*
* at
antwiki.org'
Animaldiversity.orgItis.org
Pseudomyrmecinae
Hymenoptera of Asia
Insects described in 1851
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