Boloponera is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Ponerinae.[1] The genus contains the single species Boloponera vicans, known from a single worker specimen collected in leaf litter in the Central African Republic.[2] It is sometimes referred to as Bry's ant after its discoverer, Brian Fisher.[3]

Boloponera
B. vicans, holotype specimen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Boloponera
Fisher, 2006
Species:
B. vicans
Binomial name
Boloponera vicans
Fisher, 2006

Description

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The worker specimen is small (3.3 mm) and orange in color. It has linear mandibles, with two small teeth. Nothing is known about its biology, but the linear mandibles suggest that the ants are specialized predators.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Genus: Boloponera". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  2. ^ Fisher, B. L. (2006). "Boloponera vicans gen.n. and sp.n. and two new species of the Plectroctena genus group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". Myrmecologische Nachrichten. 8: 111–118.
  3. ^ Fisher, Brian. "Boloponera in Africa" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  4. ^ 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". Zootaxa. 3817 (1): 1–242. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1. PMID 24943802.
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