Prionomyrmecini
| Prionomyrmecini | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Nothomyrmecia macrops | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Suborder: | Apocrita |
| Superfamily: | Vespoidea |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmeciinae |
| Tribe: |
Prionomyrmecini Wheeler, 1915 |
| Genera | |
|
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| Synonyms | |
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Nothomyrmecii Clark, 1934 |
|
Nothomyrmecii Clark, 1934
Prionomyrmecini is an ant tribe belonging to the subfamily Myrmeciinae established by William Morton Wheeler in 1915. Two members are a part of this tribe, the extant Nothomyrmecia and the extinct Prionomyrmex. The tribe was once considered a subfamily due to the similarities between Nothomyrmecia and Prionomyrmex, but such reclassification was not widely accepted by the scientific community. These ants can be identified by their long slender bodies, powerful stingers and elongated mandibles. Fossil Prionomyrmecini ants were once found throughout Europe, possibly nesting in trees and preferring jungle habitats. Today, Prionomyrmecini is only found in Australia, preferring old-growth mallee woodland surrounded by Eucalyptus trees. Nothomyrmecia workers feed on nectar and arthropods, using their compound eyes for prey and navigational purposes. Owing to their primitive nature, they do not recruit others to food sources or create pheromone trails. Nothomyrmecia colonies are small, consisting of 50 to 100 individuals.
Prionomyrmecini was originally described in 1915 by American entomologist William Morton Wheeler in his journal article "The ants of the Baltic amber", who originally placed it in the subfamily Ponerinae. In the same journal, Wheeler assigned Prionomyrmex as the sole member of the tribe. In 1954, William Brown Jr. moved the tribe to Myrmeciinae, noting similar morphological characteristics of Prionomyrmex and other genera such as Myrmecia and Nothomyrmecia. In 2000, Cesare Baroni Urbani described a new fossil species from Baltic amber, which he named Prionomyrmex janzeni. After examining specimens of his newly described species and Nothomyrmecia, Baroni Urbani noted that Prionomyrmex is a paraphyletic relative to Nothomyrmecia, and the two genera were so morphologically similar that Nothomyrmecia must be synonymised. Due to this, Baroni Urbani separated Prionomyrmex from Myrmeciinae and synonymised Nothomyrmecia, renaming Nothomyrmecia macrops as Prionomyrmex macrops. The tribe itself was later treated as a subfamily, known as Prionomyrmeciinae. In 2003, Dlussky & Perfilieva separated Nothomyrmecia from Prionomyrmex and both genera were moved to the subfamily Myrmeciinae, and Prionomyrmecini was treated as a tribe. In 2005 and 2008, Baroni Urbani provided additional evidence in favour of his proposed classification, but such proposal has been rejected by the entomological community.Nothomyrmecia macrops and the extinct Prionomyrmex are the only accepted members of the tribe.
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