Odontoponera Mayr, 1862

Eguchi, Katsuyuki, Viet, Bui Tuan & Yamane, Seiki, 2014, Generic Synopsis of the Formicidae of Vietnam (Insecta: Hymenoptera), Part II — Cerapachyinae, Aenictinae, Dorylinae, Leptanillinae, Amblyoponinae, Ponerinae, Ectatomminae and Proceratiinae, Zootaxa 3860 (1), pp. 1-46 : 37-38

Odontoponera Mayr, 1862

Taxonomy. The genus Odontoponera is assigned to the tribe Ponerini ( Bolton 2003) .

Morphology. Workers of Vietnamese species have the following features (see also Yamane 2009, Schmidt & Shattuck 2014):

Worker monomorphic; head and mesosoma distinctly rugose; head in full-face view subrectangular; preoccipital carina low but distinct dorsally and laterally; posteromedian portion of vertex of head with a low triangular mound; frontal lobes horizontal, narrowly separated by posteromedian portion of clypeus, completely concealing antennal sockets; antennal scrobe absent; anteromedian margin of clypeus convex, with ca. 7–9 distinct teeth; mandible subtriangular, with 5–6 teeth on masticatory margin (the basal one much smaller than the other five, or nearly absent); antenna 12-segmented, gradually incrassate from segments III to XII; eye developed well, located before midlength of side of head in lateral view; pronotum and mesonotum in lateral view with a continuous weakly convex dorsal outline; pronotum with a pair of distinct humeral spines; anterolateral corner of pronotum angulate; promesonotal suture completely separating pronotum from mesonotum; mesopleuron separated well from mesonotum by a suture, but weakly separated from metapleuron by an incomplete suture; metanotal groove inconspicuous or absent dorsally; propodeum unarmed, instead upper part of posterior slope of propodeum usually margined each side with a coarsely serrate ridge; dorsal face of propodeum distinctly longer than posterior slope in lateral view; orifice of propodeal spiracle elliptical; propodeal lobe inconspicuous or absent; petiole without anterior peduncle; petiolar node in lateral view high and thin, with an inverted V-shaped outline; subpetiolar process developed as a rectangular lobe; apicoventral part of foretibia with a small simple spur behind a large pectinate spur; apicoventral part of mid and hind tibiae with a simple spur in front of a large pectinate spur; girdling constriction between abdominal segments III and IV present; abdominal sternite III with an anteroventral flange beneath helcium; sting well developed.

Differentiation. The worker of Odontoponera is easily distinguished from that of the other Vietnamese ponerine genera by the combination of the following features: anteromedian margin of clypeus with ca. 7–9 dents; pronotum with a pair of distinct humeral spines.

Vietnamese species (1 sp.).

O. denticulata ( F. Smith, 1858) . Au (Ba Be, Cat Tien, Ky Thuong, Phu Quoc, Pu Mat, Quang Tri province, Sa Pa, Tay Yen Tu, Van Van).

O. transversa (F. Smith) was listed by Radchenko (1993a) from northern Vietnam (Cuc Phuong, Ha Noi, nr. Ha Noi, Hoa Binh), and by Zryanin (2011) from Cat Tien National Park, but those identifications need reconfirmation (see Yamane 2009).

Bionomics. Odontoponera denticulata occurs in wooded habitats including forest edges and disturbed areas, and usually nests in soil and forages on the ground surface.