Subfamily Cerapachyinae Forel, 1893
Compiler and date details
S.O. Shattuck, CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Introduction
The 198 species of Cerapachyinae are placed in five genera, two of which occur in Australia. Species are known from throughout the world in tropical and subtropical areas. They are noteworthy in that workers are specialist predators of other ants. Species of Cerapachys hunt during the day in long files over the ground surface (or occasionally into trees) with many workers moving rapidly together in a loose column. In contrast, species of Sphinctomyrmex forage primarily below ground and rarely come to the surface. Workers of Cerapachys are often encountered as individual scouts, small groups or huge columns on the surface of the ground during the day as they conduct raids. Spinctomyrmex workers are generally found under rocks and other objects on the ground. Nests occur in a wide range of sites, most commonly directly in the soil with single, small, simple entrance holes; in cracks or between slabs of rock; in rotten wood on or in the ground; less commonly they nest in hollow twigs and beetle borrows. Colonies are fairly small, normally with several hundred workers or less. For information on the taxonomy and biology of these ants see Brown (1975).
General References
Brown, W.L. jr 1975. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. V. Ponerinae, tribes Platythreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search. Agriculture (Ithaca, New York) 5: 1-116