Ponera

Collingwood, C. A., 1979, The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark., Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 8, pp. 1-174 : 32

Genus Ponera Latreille, 1804

Ponera Latreille, 1804:178.

Type-species: Formica coarctata Latreille , 1802b.

This genus was radically revised by Taylor (1967) who showed that Ponera is distinguished from the otherwise similar Hypoponera by the consistent presence of subpetiolar tooth-like ornamentation as well as the two segmented maxillary palps. It includes about 30 small hypogoeic species mainly distributed in the Indo-Australian region but with representatives throughout the north temperate zone of which one only occurs in North Europe.