Ponerinae: key to genera, couplet 1

Ponerinae: key to genera couplet 1
Key: modified from Wheeler & Wheeler (1986), Hölldobler & Wilson (1990), Bolton (1994)

Taxa remaining

Amblyopone*
Hypoponera*
Ponera
Proceratium*

Figure . Ponerinae: Amblyopone cf. australis

Figures . Ponerinae: Ponera pennsylvanicus

1.Petiole broadly attached to first gastral segment, the two separated only by a constriction, petiole without a free posterior face (Fig. ); anterior margin of clypeus lined with numerous denticles; mandible with a row of coarse bidenticulate teeth. (one species, Amblyopone pallipes, collected in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin)
...Amblyopone*

Petiole narrowly attached to first gastral segment, the two joined via a slender articulatory junction, petiole with a free posterior face (Fig. ); ventral margin of clypeus not lined with denticles; mandibular teeth (when present) single.
...2.

Subfamily: Ponerinae Genus: Amblyopone Amblyopone pallipes

Genus: Ponera P. pennsylvania Buckley Cedar creek

Genus Amblyopone Erichson dw bruni (Forel, 1912): Chou & Terayama, 1991: 76; - Bolton, 1995: 61. •¨pAdwVD
sakaii Terayama, 1989: Chou & Terayama, 1991: 76; - Bolton, 1995: 62. is§´dwVD
silvestrii (Wheeler, 1928): Chou & Terayama, 1991: 76; - Bolton, 1995: 63; -Tang et al., 1995: 24. ¶Ë§ÛdwVD

Notes: primitive, not regurgitate, queen forage for food for 1st brood, timid, not aggressive, monomorphic: worker=female, uniformly carnivorous, pupae in cocoon, thief ant, always associate with other ants, nest in acorns or nuts, prefer dry open habitats, e.g. woods edge, slow moving, feed on small arthropods

Tim's Comments: This species is very timid and moves in a characteristic serpentine fashion. The fenestra (small nearly circular "window" through which light passes) on the ventral surface of the petiole ischaracteristic of the genus. This species is the only Ponerine that we found. It was fairly abundant in every habitat wesurveyed. We nearly always found this species in close association with a variety of other ant species (in fact we often discovered the fairly cryptic Ponera while observing another species' nest). Perhaps this species preys upon other ant's eggs and larvae like the thief ant Solenopsis molesta.

1.Petiole broadly attached to first gastral segment, the two separated only by a constriction, petiole without a free posterior face (Fig. ); anterior margin of clypeus lined with numerous denticles; mandible with a row of coarse bidenticulate teeth. (one species, Amblyopone pallipes, collected in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin)	...Amblyopone*
Petiole narrowly attached to first gastral segment, the two joined via a slender articulatory junction, petiole with a free posterior face (Fig. ); ventral margin of clypeus not lined with denticles; mandibular teeth (when present) single.	...2.

Subfamily: Ponerinae	Genus: Amblyopone	Amblyopone pallipes
	Genus: Ponera	P. pennsylvania Buckley	Cedar creek