| Myrmeciinae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Myrmecia gulosa | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmeciinae Emery, 1877 |
| Type genus | |
| Myrmecia | |
| Tribes and genera | |
|
2 extant genera; 9? fossil genera; 2 tribes[1] | |
Myrmeciinae is a subfamily of the Formicidae, ants once found worldwide but now restricted to Australia and New Caledonia. This subfamily is one of several ant subfamilies which possess gamergates, female worker ants which are able to mate and reproduce, thus sustaining the colony after the loss of the queen.[2] The Myrmeciinae subfamily was formerly composed of only one genus, Myrmecia, but the subfamily was redescribed by Ward & Brady in 2003 to include two tribes and four genera.[3] An additional three genera, one form genus, and 9 species were described in 2006 from the Early Eocene of Denmark, Canada, and Washington.[4] Subsequently an additional fossil genus was moved from the family Rhopalosomatidae in 2018, and a new genus was described in 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
AntCatwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Dietemann, Vincent; Peeters, Christian; Hölldobler, Bert (2004). "Gamergates in the Australian ant subfamily Myrmeciinae". Naturwissenschaften. 91 (9): 432–435. Bibcode:2004NW.....91..432D. doi:10.1007/s00114-004-0549-1. PMID 15278223.
- ^ Ward, Philip S.; Brady, Seán G. (2003). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the ant subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)" (PDF). Invertebrate Systematics. 17 (3): 361–386. doi:10.1071/IS02046.
- ^ Archibald, S.B.; Cover, S. P.; Moreau, C. S. (2006). "Bulldog Ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and History of the Subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)" (PDF). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 99 (3): 487–523. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[487:BAOTEO]2.0.CO;2.