Ant subfamilies

Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and in soil, rotting wood, under stones, or in trees. All species of Cephalotes (within the tribe Attini) are gliding ants.

thumb|Carpenter ant (Camponotus sp.) The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae family containing ants of moderate evolutionary development.

thumb|250px|Plectroctena sp. fighting

Dolichoderinae is a subfamily of ants, which includes species such as the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), the erratic ant, the odorous house ant, and the cone ant. The subfamily presents a great diversity of species throughout the world, distributed in different biogeographic realms, from the Palearctic, Nearctic, Afrotropical region and Malaysia, to the Middle East, Australian, and Neotropical regions.

Leptanillinae is a subfamily of primitive ants consisting of three genera.

Myrmeciinae is a subfamily of the Formicidae, ants once found worldwide but now restricted to Australia and New Caledonia. This subfamily is one of several ant subfamilies which possess gamergates, female worker ants which are able to mate and reproduce, thus sustaining the colony after the loss of the queen. The Myrmeciinae subfamily was formerly composed of only one genus, Myrmecia, but the subfamily was redescribed by Ward & Brady in 2003 to include two tribes and four genera. An additional three genera, one form genus, and 9 species were described in 2006 from the Early Eocene of Denmark,

Pseudomyrmecinae is a small subfamily of ants containing three genera of slender, large-eyed arboreal ants, predominantly tropical or subtropical in distribution. In the course of adapting to arboreal conditions (unlike the predominantly ground-dwelling myrmeciins), the pseudomyrmecines diversified and came to occupy and retain a much wider geographic range.

Agroecomyrmecinae is a subfamily of ants containing two extant and two fossil genera. The subfamily was originally classified in 1930 by Frank M. Carpenter as Agroecomyrmecini, a Myrmicinae tribe. Bolton raised the tribe to subfamily status in 2003, suggesting that Agroecomyrmecinae might be the sister taxon to Myrmicinae. It has since been discovered to be one of the earliest lineages of ants, a clade from the basal polytomy for all ants. In 2014, the subfamily was expanded to two tribes. The tribe Ankylomyrmini was moved from the subfamily Myrmicinae to Agroemyrmecinae.

Proceratiinae is a subfamily of ants in the poneromorph subfamilies group, with three extant genera, of which most are tropical or subtropical, although overall distribution is worldwide.

Aneuretinae is a subfamily of ants consisting of a single extant species, Aneuretus simoni (Sri Lankan relict ant), and 9 fossil species. Earlier, the phylogenetic position of A. simoni was thought to be intermediate between primitive and advanced subfamilies of ants, but recent studies have shown it is the nearest living relative of subfamily Dolichoderinae.

Sphecomyrminae is an extinct subfamily of ants in family Formicidae known from a series of Cretaceous fossils found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Sphecomyrminae contains eight genera, divided into two tribes Sphecomyrmini and Zigrasimeciini. The tribe Sphecomyrmini contains the six genera Armania, Cretomyrma, Gerontoformica, Orapia, Pseudarmania and Sphecomyrma; while Zigrasimeciini contains Boltonimecia and Zigrasimecia. A number of taxa have been removed from the subfamily and placed either in other subfamilies or are now treated as incertae sedis in Formicidae.

Ecitoninae is an ant subfamily.

Formiciinae is an extinct subfamily of ants known from Eocene deposits in Europe and North America.

Ectatomminae is a subfamily of ants containing four extant and three extinct genera in two tribes. The subfamily was described in 2003 when Barry Bolton divided the Ponerinae subfamily into six subfamilies. Heteroponerinae used to be an independent subfamily, but was merged into Ectatomminae in 2022. The taxonomical position of Ectatomminae was further upheld in a genomic reanalysis conducted with alternate methods in 2024.

Haidomyrmecinae, occasionally called hell ants, are an extinct subfamily of ants (Formicidae) known from Cretaceous fossils primarily found in amber from North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, spanning the late Aptian to Campanian, around 113 to 79 million years ago. The subfamily was first proposed in 2003 but had been subsequently treated as the tribe Haidomyrmecini and placed in the extinct ant subfamily Sphecomyrminae. Reevaluation of the Haidomyrmecini in 2020 led to the elevation of the group back to the subfamily. The family contains nine genera and 13 species.

Wikimedia list article