Myrmicine
| Myrmicinae Temporal range: Turonian–Recent |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Atta cephalotes worker | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: |
Myrmicinae Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835 |
| Type genus | |
|
Myrmica |
|
| Diversity | |
| 142 genera | |
Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and in soil, rotting wood, under stones, or in trees.
Myrmicine worker ants have a distinct postpetiole, i.e., abdominal segment III is notably smaller than segment IV and set off from it by a well-developed constriction; the pronotum is inflexibly fused to the rest of the mesosoma, such that the promesonotal suture is weakly impressed or absent; and a functional sting is usually present. The clypeus is well-developed; as a result, the antennal sockets are well separated from the anterior margin of the head. Most myrmicine genera possess well-developed eyes and frontal lobes that partly conceal the antennal insertions.
Recently, the number of tribes was reduced from over 20 to just 6:
In 2014, a majority of genera were placed into different tribes or moved to other subfamilies. Below is an updated list:
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Wikipedia