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Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2017)

Taxon Page Images:

Hypoponera opacior, worker and ergatoid male. Most ant males are wasp-like and winged, adapted for dispersing away from their home nest to mate with queens from other colonies. But some Hypoponera males are inbreeding specialists. These pale creatures are worker-like in appearance and mate with their sisters in the nest. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.
Image © Alex Wild.

Distribution:

(based on species list records)   Genus is native to: Afrotropical, Australasia, Indomalaya, Malagasy, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oceania, Palearctic bioregions.

Afrotropical Region: Africa, Angola, Ashanti, Benin, Bioko Sur, Botswana, Buikwe, Bundibugyo, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eastern Africa, Eastern Cape, Embu, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estuaire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gauteng, Ghana, Guinea, Iringa, Ivory Coast, Kabarole, Kakamega, Kenya, Kilimanjaro, KwaZulu-Natal, Lindi, Middle Africa, Morogoro, Mozambique, Mpumalanga, Mtwara, Nigeria, Ogooué-Maritime, Oromīya, Pwani, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sangha-Mbaéré, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South, South Africa, South-West, Southern Africa, Sud-Kivu, Sudan, São Tomé, Tanga, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western, Western Africa, Western Cape, Woleu-Ntem, YeDebub Bihēroch Bihēreseboch na Hizboch, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Australasia Region: Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Central, East Sepik, Eastern Highlands, Lord Howe Island, Madang, Makira-Ulawa, Morobe, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Oceania, Papua, Papua New Guinea, Queensland, Solomon Islands, Sud, Victoria, Western Australia, Western Highlands
Indomalaya Region: Asia, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Jawa Barat, Krakatau Islands, Laguna, Lampung, Malaysia, Myanmar, Perak, Philippines, Singapore, South-Eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi Tengah, Sumatera Barat, Taiwan, Vietnam
Malagasy Region: Anjouan, Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Comoros, Fianarantsoa, Grande Comore, Madagascar, Mahajanga, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mohéli, Reunion, Seychelles, Toamasina, Toliara
Nearctic Region: Alabama, Arizona, Baja California, California, Canada, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North America, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puebla, Tennessee, Texas, United States, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin
Neotropical Region: Alajuela, Amambay, Americas, Aragua, Argentina, Atlántida, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Boaco, Bolivia, Brazil, Canindeyú, Caribbean, Cartago, Catamarca, Cayo, Central, Central America, Chiapas, Chile, Chontales, Cochabamba, Colombia, Colón, Comayagua, Concepción, Cortés, Costa Caribe Norte, Costa Caribe Sur, Costa Rica, Cuba, Darién, Dominican Republic, Duarte, Ecuador, El Progreso, Francisco Morazán, Galapagos Islands, Galápagos, Gracias a Dios, Guadeloupe, Guanacaste, Guantánamo, Guatemala, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Hato Mayor, Heredia, Honduras, Huehuetenango, Itapúa, Izabal, Jalisco, Jamaica, Jinotega, La Vega, Limón, Madre de Dios, Martinique, Masaya, Matagalpa, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mexico, Minas Gerais, Misiones, Morelos, Nayarit, Nicaragua, Nueva Segovia, Oaxaca, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Petén, Presidente Hayes, Puerto Rico, Puntarenas, Putumayo, Retalhuleu, Rio de Janeiro, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San José, Santa Catarina, Santiago de Cuba, South America, Suchitepéquez, Suriname, São Paulo, Tamaulipas, Trinidad and Tobago, United States Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Valparaíso, Venezuela, Veracruz, Zacapa
Oceania Region: American Samoa, Ba, Bua, Cakaudrove, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kadavu, Koror, Lau, Lomaiviti, Macuata, Marshall Islands, Melanesia, Micronesia, Micronesia, Naitasiri, Namosi, Ngatpang, Ngchesar, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Pohnpei, Polynesia, Ra, Rewa, Samoa, Serua, Tonga, Tuamasaga, Wallis and Futuna
Palearctic Region: Al Bahah, Algeria, Alicante, Andorra, Ar Riyad, Armenia, Austria, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Brussels Capital, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, China, Corsica, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, East Flanders, Eastern Asia, Eastern Europe, Egypt, Emilia-Romagna, England, Europe, Finland, Flemish Brabant, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hainaut, Hungary, Hyōgo, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kaliningrad, Liguria, Limburg, Lower Saxony, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madrid, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, North Korea, Northern Africa, Northern Europe, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Korea, Southern Europe, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Toscana, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Valencia, Western Asia, Western Europe, Yemen, Zurich, Śląskie

Biology:

These are small, cryptic ants, nesting in soil or wood. The workers are predators on small arthropods, but they are seldom seen foraging above ground.

Identification:

Worker: frontal lobes contiguous, not separated by a conspicuous posterior extension of the clypeus; eyes reduced or absent; hind tibia with a single spur; petiole attached near lower margin of abdominal segment 3; subpetiolar process a simple lobe, lacking sharp posteroventral teeth or angles.

Notes:

This cosmopolitan genus is most common and diverse in the tropics. Four species are known from California, of which two are apparently introduced.

References:

Onoyama (1989b); Taylor (1967a); Yamauchi et al. (1996).

Taxonomic Treatment (provided by Plazi)

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