Dinoponera gigantea
| Dinoponera gigantea | |
|---|---|
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| Dinoponera gigantea. Museum specimen | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Ponerinae |
| Tribe: | Ponerini |
| Genus: | Dinoponera |
| Species: | D. gigantea |
| Binomial name | |
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Dinoponera gigantea (Perty, 1833) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ponera grandis Guérin-Méneville, 1838 |
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Ponera grandis Guérin-Méneville, 1838
Ponera gigantea Perty, 1833
Dinoponera gigantea is a species of ants belonging to the family Formicidae.
Dinoponera gigantea is one of the world's largest species of ant. The females of the species are larger than males, with lengths ranging from 3 to 4 centimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in). The females are coal-black in color, while the much smaller males are dark red.
Dinoponera gigantea is present only in South America. It has been found on the coast of Guyana, in the Brazilian states of Amazonas, Pará including Marajo Island, Mato Grosso and Maranhão as well as the Loreto Province in Peru. Dinoponera gigantea is reported to be common in un-flooded forests in the vicinity of Belém, Pará. It is probable that Dinoponera gigantea is found in French Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela and southeastern Colombia because these regions are adjacent to known Dinoponera gigantea localities and have similar lowland rainforest habitat.
D. gigantea colonies have as many as eight entrances to their underground chambers, each being 3 to 8 centimetres (1.2 to 3.1 in) in diameter. The entrances are, as is typical for ants, surrounded by the soil removed to make the nest, but, in contrast with other species, no mound is formed. Nests have been found to be about 40 centimetres (16 in) deep, with chambers approximately 3 centimetres (1.2 in) in height and 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in width.
At least in some instances, the species is polydomous, with a single colony occupying and maintaining more than one nest at a time. Some instances of this were recorded in Fourcassie and Oliveira's 2002 study, which found colonies using multiple nests, the entrances of which were 40 to 250 centimetres (1.3 to 8.2 ft) apart.
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Wikipedia