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Simopelta

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Simopelta
Simopelta pergandei worker
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Simopelta
Mann, 1922
Type species
Belonopelta jeckylli
Mann, 1916
Diversity[1]
21 species

Simopelta is a Neotropical genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae.[2]

Distribution

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The genus is known from central and northern South America, where they are primarily found in mid-elevation moist forests.[3]

Description

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Workers are slender, small in size (2.1–4.9 mm), and black to orange in color. Queens are dichthadiiform (wingless and with enlarged gasters) and "morphologically simplified" relative to workers. Males remain unknown.[3]

Species have an army-ant life style, including group predation and nomadism. However, belonging to the tribe Ponerini, they are evidently ponerines and the army-ant like characters are deemed to have evolved through convergent evolution. Compared to other ponerines, colonies are large, consisting of 1,000 to 2,000 individuals.[3]

Species

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References

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  1. ^ Bolton, B. (2014). "Simopelta". AntCat. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Genus: Simopelta". AntWeb. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Schmidt, C. A; Shattuck, S. O. (2014). "The Higher Classification of the Ant Subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a Review of Ponerine Ecology and Behavior" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3817 (1): 1–242. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1. PMID 24943802. S2CID 4540972. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-24.
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  • Media related to Simopelta at Wikimedia Commons