Cryptopone odax

Cryptopone odax
Cryptopone odax worker
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Tribe: Ponerini
Alliance: Odontomachus genus group
Genus: Cryptopone
Species:
C. odax
Binomial name
Cryptopone odax
(Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014)

Cryptopone odax is a species of ponerine ant native to Australia.[1][2] They were originally placed in their own genus Iroponera, however molecular analysis by Fisher et al. in 2025 places them within the genus Cryptopone.[3]

Its workers are orange-colored and small in size (2.6 mm). Queens and males of this species remain unknown. Little is known about their biology, but their small eyes indicate a subterranean lifestyle.[2]

References

  1. ^ Bolton, B. (2025). "Cryptopone odax". AntCat. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b Schmidt, C. A.; Shattuck, S. O. (2014). "The Higher Classification of the Ant Subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a Review of Ponerine Ecology and Behavior". Zootaxa. 3817 (1): 1–242. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1. PMID 24943802.
  3. ^ Fisher, Brian L.; Branstetter, Michael G.; Blaimer, Bonnie B.; Borowiec, Marek L.; Camacho, Gabriela P.; Doré, Maël; Ward, Philip S.; Longino, John T. (19 December 2025). "A genus-level classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)". ZooKeys (1264): 281–349. Bibcode:2025ZooK.1264..281F. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1264.173399. PMC 12743250. PMID 41458144.