Megaponera analis
| Megaponera analis | |
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| A major worker with termite prey | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Ponerinae |
| Tribe: | Ponerini |
| Genus: | Megaponera |
| Species: | M. analis |
| Binomial name | |
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Megaponera analis (Latreille, 1802) |
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Present in country Likely present in country Absent from country |
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| Synonyms | |
Present in country Likely present in country Absent from country
Megaponera analis is the sole species of the genus Megaponera. They are a strictly termite-eating (termitophagous) ponerine ant species widely distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa and most commonly known for their column-like raiding formation when attacking termite feeding sites. Their sophisticated raiding behaviour gave them the common name Matabele ant after the Matabele tribe, fierce warriors who overwhelmed various other tribes during the 1800s. At nearly 20 millimetres (0.79 in) in length, M. analis is one of the world's largest ants.
Megaponera is a genus of ponerine ant first defined by Gustav Mayr in 1862 for Formica analis (Latreille, 1802), the sole species belonging to the genus to date. In 1994 William L. Brown, Jr. synonymised the genus under Pachycondyla even though he lacked phylogenetic justification, thereby changing the name from Megaponera foetens to Pachycondyla analis. In 2014 Schmidt and Shattuck revived Megaponera back to full genus status due to both molecular and morphological evidence. Since foetens was just a specific epithet incorrectly used throughout the literature the new name for the species as of June 2014 is Megaponera analis.
Due to its very wide distribution throughout Africa, it is likely that there are many more subspecies of M. analis than those recognised at the moment – some of which may warrant elevation to full species status.
The five currently recognised subspecies of M. analis are:
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