Hypoponera Santschi, 1938

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 : 34

Hypoponera Santschi, 1938

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

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

Worker monomorphic; head in full-face view subrectangular; frontal lobes horizontal, separated from each other by a longitudinal sulcus; antennal scrobe absent; anteromedian margin of clypeus convex; mandible elongatetriangular; its distinct apical tooth followed by a series of small teeth or serration on masticatory margin; basal portion of mandible without a distinct circular or near-circular pit or fovea dorsolaterally; antenna 12-segmented, gradually incrassate from segments III to XII; eye present, but often reduced, consisting of a single or a few ommatidia; eye located on the side of head close to the mandibular insertion; dorsal outline of mesosoma in lateral view continuous and straight, or interrupted between pronotum, mesonotum and propodeum; promesonotal suture completely separating pronotum from mesonotum; mesopleuron distinctly to faintly demarcated from mesonotum by a suture, and distinctly from metapleuron by a suture and/or groove; metanotal groove usually distinct dorsally; propodeum unarmed; orifice of propodeal spiracle round to elliptical; propodeal lobe absent; outer surface of middle tibia with fine normal pilosity only; apicoventral part of foretibia always without a simple spur behind a large pectinate spur; apicoventral part of mid and hind tibiae with a single pectinate spur; petiole without anterior peduncle; petiolar node squamiforem in lateral view high; subpetiolar process developed well as a lobe, anteriorly without a conspicuous round depression, posteroventrally without a pair of angles; girdling constriction between abdominal segments III and IV relatively distinct; abdominal sternite III with an anteroventral U-shaped ridge below helcium or a distinct anteroventral flange beneath helcium; sting well developed.

Differentiation. The worker of Hypoponera is in general appearance most similar to that of Ponera and Cryptopone . In the worker of Ponera , however, the subpetiolar process in lateral view has an anterior round depression (fenestra) and a pair of posteroventral acute angles. In the worker of Cryptopone the basal portion of mandible has a distinct circular fovea or elongate depression dorsolaterally, and the dorsal (outer) surface of middle tibia bears thickened peg-like setae among background pilosity. The worker of some large species are somewhat similar to that of Brachyponera , but in the latter the apicoventral part of hind tibia has two spurs (a large pectinate spur and a smaller, simple spur in front of the pectinate spur).

Vietnamese species (10 spp.).

H. silvestrii (Donishorpe, 1947) . Type locality: Yen Bay, Tonkin [northern Vietnam]. H. sp. eg-1 (Ba Vi, Cuc Phuong, Pu Mat, Tam Dao, Tay Yen Tu, Van Ban). H. sp. eg-2 (Sa Pa, Tam Dao, Tay Yen Tu). H. sp. eg-3 (Ba Be, Cat Tien, Pu Mat, Tay Yen Tu, Van Ban). H. sp. eg-4 (Tay Yen Tu, Van Ban).

H. sp. eg-5 (Tay Yen Tu).

H. sp. eg-6 (Cat Tien).

H. sp. eg-7 (Van Ban).

H. sp. eg-8 (Cat Tien).

H. sp. eg-9 (Pu Mat).

Bionomics. Hypoponera spp. usually occur in well-developed forests and other wooded habitats. They nest in rotting logs and wood fragments, and in litter and soil.