{{short description|Genus of ants}} {{featured article}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{speciesbox | image = CSIRO ScienceImage 2478 Dinosaur or Fossil Ants Nothomyrmecia macrops.jpg | image_caption = ''N. macrops'' workers | status = CR | status_system = IUCN2.3 | status_ref =<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Social Insects Specialist Group |date=1996 |title=''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' |volume=1996 |article-number=e.T14849A4465171 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T14849A4465171.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Nothomyrmecia |display_parents = 3 | parent_authority = Clark, 1934 | species = macrops | authority = Clark, 1934 }} '''''Nothomyrmecia''''', also known as the '''dinosaur ant''' or '''dawn ant''', is an extremely rare genus of ants consisting of a single species, '''''Nothomyrmecia macrops'''''. These ants live in South Australia, nesting in old-growth mallee woodland and ''Eucalyptus'' woodland. The full distribution of ''Nothomyrmecia'' has never been assessed, and it is unknown how widespread the species truly is; its potential range may be wider if it does favour old-growth mallee woodland. Possible threats to its survival include habitat destruction and climate change. ''Nothomyrmecia'' is most active when it is cold because workers encounter fewer competitors and predators such as ''Camponotus'' and ''Iridomyrmex'', and it also increases hunting success. Thus, the increase of temperature may prevent them from foraging and very few areas would be suitable for the ant to live in. As a result, the IUCN lists the ant as Critically Endangered.
As a medium-sized ant, ''Nothomyrmecia'' measures {{convert|9.7-11|mm|in|abbr=on}}. Workers are monomorphic, showing little morphological differentiation among one another. Mature colonies are very small, with only 50 to 100 individuals in each nest. Workers are strictly nocturnal and are solitary foragers, collecting arthropod prey and sweet substances such as honeydew from scale insects and other Hemiptera. They rely on their vision to navigate and there is no evidence to suggest that the species use chemicals to communicate when foraging, but they do use chemical alarm signals. A queen ant will mate with one or more males and, during colony foundation, she will hunt for food until the brood have fully developed. Queens are univoltine (they produce just one generation of ants each year). Two queens may establish a colony together, but only one will remain once the first generation of workers has been reared.
''Nothomyrmecia'' was first described by Australian entomologist John S. Clark in 1934 from two specimens of worker ants. These were reportedly collected in 1931 near the Russell Range, inland from Israelite Bay in Western Australia. After its initial discovery, the ant was not seen again for four decades until a group of entomologists rediscovered it in 1977, {{convert|1300|km|mi|abbr=on}} away from the original reported site. Dubbed as the 'Holy Grail' of myrmecology, the ant was subject to great scientific interest after its rediscovery, attracting scientists from around the world.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name=IUCN_1983/> In Poochera (the rediscovery site), pictures of the ant are stencilled on the streets, and it is perhaps the only town in the world that thrives off ant-based tourism. Some entomologists have suggested a relationship to the Baltic Eocene fossil ant genus ''Prionomyrmex'' based on morphological similarities, but this interpretation is not widely accepted by the entomological community. Owing to its body structure, ''Nothomyrmecia'' is regarded to be the most plesiomorphic ant alive and a 'living fossil', stimulating studies on its morphology, behaviour, ecology, and chromosomes.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
==Description== thumbnail|Closeup view of a worker's head|alt=Head of worker dinosaur ant with large eyes and long mandibles ''Nothomyrmecia'' is a medium-sized ant measuring {{convert|9.7-11|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length. Workers are monomorphic, meaning that there is little morphological differentiation among one another.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name="Clark_1934"/><ref name="Taylor_2014"/> The mandibles, clypeus (one of the sclerites that make up the "face" of an arthropod or insect), antennae and legs are pale yellow. The hairs on the body are yellow, erect and long and abundant, but on the antennae and legs they are shorter and suberect (standing almost in an erect position). It shows similar characteristics to ''Myrmecia'', and somewhat resembles ''Oecophylla'', commonly known as weaver ants. Workers are strictly nocturnal (active mainly at night) but navigate by vision, relying on large compound eyes.<ref name="Clark_1934"/><ref name="Brown_Wilson_1959">{{cite journal|last1=Brown |first1=W.L. Jr. |last2=Wilson |first2=E.O. |title=The search for ''Nothomyrmecia'' |journal=Western Australian Naturalist |date=1959 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=25–30 |url=http://52.0.117.255/ants/publications/6780/6780.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121131912/http://52.0.117.255/ants/publications/6780/6780.pdf |archive-date=21 November 2015 }}</ref> The mandibles are shorter than the head. They have 10 to 15 intermeshing teeth and are less specialised than those of ''Myrmecia'' and ''Prionomyrmex'', being elongate and triangular. The head is longer than it is wide and broader towards the back. The sides of the head are convex around the eyes. The long antennal scapes (the base of the antenna) extend beyond the occipital border, and the second segment of the funiculus (a series of segments between the base and club) is slightly longer than the first, third and fourth segment. The node, pronotum, epinotum and thorax are longer than broad, and the mesonotum is just as long as it is wide. The first segment of the gaster (the bulbous posterior portion of the metasoma) is broader than long by a third and broader at the back than the front with strongly convex sides.<ref name="Clark_1934"/><ref name='"Heterick_2009"'>{{cite journal|last1=Heterick|first1=B.E.|title=A guide to the ants of South-western Australia|journal=Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement|date=2009|volume=76|page=7|doi=10.18195/issn.0313-122x.76.2009.007-206|url=http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/1.%20Heterick.pdf}}</ref>
A long and retractable stinger is present at the rear of the abdomen. It has been described as "prominent and effective" and is capable of inflicting a painful sting to humans.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name="Clark_1934"/> A 'sting bulb gland' is also present in ''Nothomyrmecia''; this is a small exocrine gland of unknown function, first discovered and named in 1990. It is situated in the basal part of the insect's sting, and is located between the two ducts of the venom gland and the Dufour's gland.<ref name="Billen_1990">{{cite journal|last1=Billen|first1=J.|title=The sting bulb gland in ''Myrmecia'' and ''Nothomyrmecia'' (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): new exocrine gland in ants|journal=International Journal of Insect Morphology and Embryology|date=1990|volume=19|issue=2|pages=133–139|doi=10.1016/0020-7322(90)90023-I|url=http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/e/eb/Billen_1990.pdf}}</ref> Despite its many plesiomorphic features, the sting apparatus of ''Nothomyrmecia'' is considered less primitive than those found in other ants such as ''Stigmatomma pallipes''.<ref name="Kugler_1980">{{cite journal|last1=Kugler|first1=C.|title=The sting apparatus in the primitive ants ''Nothomyrmecia'' and ''Myrmecia''|journal=Australian Journal of Entomology|date=1980|volume=19|issue=4|pages=263–267|doi=10.1111/j.1440-6055.1980.tb00983.x|url=https://zenodo.org/record/26100|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is the only known species of ant that contains both a sting and a 'waist' (i.e. it has no postpetiole between the first and second gastral segments).<ref name="Clarke_Spier-Ashcroft"/>
thumbnail|left|''N. macrops'', winged male|alt=Male dinosaur ant with long, functional wings Queens look similar to workers, but several morphological features distinguish the two castes from each other. The queen's body is usually larger. Ocelli are highly developed, but the eyes on the queen are not enlarged. The structure of the pterothorax (the wing-bearing area of the thorax) is consistent with other reproductive ants, but it does not occupy as much of its mesosomal bulk. The wings of the queens are rudimentary and stubby, barely overlapping the first gastral segment, and are brachypterous (non-functional).<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>{{sfn|Hölldobler|Wilson|1990|p=302}} Males resemble those of ''Myrmecia'', but ''Nothomyrmecia'' males bear a single waist node. The wings on the male ant are not stubby like a queen's; rather they are long and fully developed, exhibiting a primitive venational complement. They have a jugal anal lobe (a portion of the hindwing), a feature found in many primitive ants, and basal hamuli (hook-like projections that link the forewings and hindwings). Most male specimens collected have two tibial spurs (spines located on the distal end of the tibia); the first spur is a long calcar and the second spur is short and thick. Adults have a stridulatory organ on the ventral side of the abdomen – unlike all other hymenopterans in which such organs are located dorsally.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
In all castes, these ants have six maxillary palps (palps that serve as organs of touch and taste in feeding) and four labial palps (sensory structures on the labium), a highly primitive feature. The females have a 12-segmented antenna, whereas males have 13 segments. Other features include paired calcariae found on both the hind and middle tibiae, and the claws have a median tooth. The unspecialised nature of the cuticle (outer exoskeleton of the body) is similar to ''Pseudomyrmex'', a member of the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae. Many of the features known in ''Nothomyrmecia'' are found in Ponerinae and Pseudomyrmecinae.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
thumb|Stinger of ''N. macrops''|alt=Microscopic image of the stinger of Nothomyrmecia macrops, appearing needle-like The eggs of ''Nothomyrmecia'' are similar to those of ''Myrmecia'', being subspherical and non-adhesive. The larvae bear a primitive body structure with no specialised tubercles, sharing similar characteristics with the subfamily Ponerinae, but the sensilla are more abundant on the mouthparts. The larvae are characterised into three stages: very young, young, and mature, measuring {{convert|2.8|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}, {{convert|6.3|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} and {{convert|11|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}, respectively.<ref name="Wheeler_Wheeler_Taylor_1980">{{cite journal|last1=Wheeler|first1=G.C.|last2=Wheeler|first2=J.|last3=Taylor|first3=R.W.|title=The larval and egg stages of the primitive ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' Clark (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)|journal=Australian Journal of Entomology|date=1980|volume=19|issue=2|pages=131–137|doi=10.1111/j.1440-6055.1980.tb00974.x|doi-access=free}}</ref> The cocoons have thin walls and produce meconium (a metabolic waste product expelled through the anal opening after an insect emerges from its pupal stage).<ref name="Taylor_1978"/> The cuticular hydrocarbons have internally branched alkenes, a feature rarely found in ants and most insects.<ref name="Brown_Jaisson_Taylor_Lacey_1990">{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=W.V.|last2=Jaisson|first2=P.|last3=Taylor|first3=R.W.|last4=Lacey|first4=M.J.|title=Novel internally branched, internal alkenes as major components of the cuticular hydrocarbons of the primitive Australian ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' Clark (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)|journal=Journal of Chemical Ecology|date=1990|volume=16|issue=9|pages=2623–2635|doi=10.1007/BF00988074|pmid=24264318|bibcode=1990JCEco..16.2623B |s2cid=20297056}}</ref>
In general, the body structure of all ''Nothomyrmecia'' castes demonstrates the primitive nature of the species.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/> Notable derived features include vestigial ocelli on workers, brachypterous queens, and the mesoscutal structure on males. The morphology of the abdomen, mandibles, gonoforceps (a sclerite, serving as the base of the ovipositors sheath) and basal hamuli show it is more primitive than ''Myrmecia''. The structure of the abdominal region can separate it from other Myrmeciinae relatives (the fourth abdominal segment of ''Myrmecia'' is tubulate, whereas ''Nothomyrmecia'' has a non-tubulated abdominal segment). The appearance of the fourth abdominal segment is consistent with almost all aculeate insects, and possibly ''Sphecomyrma''.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
The feature of non-functional, vestigial wings may have evolved in this species relatively recently, as wings might otherwise have long-since disappeared completely had they no function for dispersal. Wing-reduction could somehow relate to population structure or some other specialised ecological pressure. Equally, wing-reduction might be a feature that only forms in drought-stressed colonies, as has been observed in several ''Monomorium'' ant species found throughout semi-arid regions of Australia. As yet, scientists do not fully understand how the feature of non-functional, vestigial wings arose in ''Nothomyrmecia macrops''.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
==Taxonomy==
===Discovery=== thumbnail|''N. macrops'' worker specimen collected by Taylor|alt=Side view of worker dinosaur ant The first collection of ''Nothomyrmecia'' was made in December 1931 by amateur entomologist, Amy Crocker,{{efn|Referred to as Miss. A. E. Baesjou in Clark's article.}} whose colleagues had collected a range of insect samples for her during a field excursion, including specimens of two worker ants, reportedly near the Russell Range, inland from Israelite Bay in Western Australia.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name="Clark_1934">{{cite journal|last1=Clark|first1=J.S.|year=1934 |title=Notes on Australian ants, with descriptions of new species and a new genus |journal=Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria|volume=8 |pages=5–20|url=http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/4/41/Clark_1934a.pdf|doi=10.5281/zenodo.26629}}</ref> Crocker then passed the ants to Australian entomologist John S. Clark. Recognised shortly afterwards as a new species, these specimens became the syntypes.<ref name="Clark_1934"/> Entomologist Robert W. Taylor subsequently expressed doubt about the accuracy of recording of the original discovery site, stating the specimens were probably collected from the western end of the Great Australian Bight, south from Balladonia.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/> The discovery of ''Nothomyrmecia'' and the appearance of its unique body structure led scientists in 1951 to initiate a series of searches to find the ant in Western Australia.<ref name="Brown_Wilson_1959"/> Over three decades, teams of Australian and American collectors failed to re-find it; entomologists such as E. O. Wilson and William Brown, Jr., made attempts to search for it, but neither was successful.<ref name="Hoyt_1997"/> Then, on 22 October 1977, Taylor and his party of entomologists from Canberra serendipitously discovered a solitary worker ant at Poochera, South Australia, southeast of Ceduna, some {{convert|1300|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the reported site of the 1931 discovery.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name="Schultz_2000">{{cite journal|last1=Schultz|first1=T. R.|title=In search of ant ancestors|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=2000|volume=97|issue=26|pages=14028–14029|doi=10.1073/pnas.011513798|pmid=11106367|pmc=34089|bibcode=2000PNAS...9714028S|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2012, a report discussing the possible presence of ''Nothomyrmecia'' in Western Australia did not confirm any sighting of the ant between Balladonia and the Western Australian coastal regions.<ref name="McArthur_2012">{{cite journal|last1=McArthur|first1=A.|title=Report on a search for the dinosaur ant in Western Australia|journal=South Australian Naturalist|date=2012|volume=86|issue=2|pages=89–92|url=http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=128122866386259;res=IELHSS|issn=0038-2965}}</ref> After 46 years of searching for it, entomologists have dubbed the ant the 'Holy Grail' of myrmecology.<ref name="Canberra Times_1977">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110878476 |title=CSIRO team finds world's most primitive ant |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Canberra, ACT |date=18 November 1977 |access-date=22 November 2015 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126906159 |title='Dinosaur' that still lives. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Canberra, ACT |date=30 June 1982 |access-date=22 November 2015 |page=18 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
===Naming=== In 1934 entomologist John S. Clark published a formal description of ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' as a new species and within a completely new genus and tribe (Nothomyrmecii) of the Ponerinae.<ref name="Clark_1934"/> He did so because the two specimens (which then became the syntypes) bore no resemblance to any ant species he knew of, but they did share similar morphological characteristics with the extinct genus ''Prionomyrmex''. Clark notes that the head and mandibles of ''Nothomyrmecia'' and ''Prionomyrmex'' are somewhat similar, but the two can be distinguished by the appearance of the node (a segment between the mesosoma and gaster).<ref name="Clark_1934"/> In 1951, Clark proposed the new ant subfamily Nothomyrmeciinae for his ''Nothomyrmecia'', based on morphological differences with other ponerine ants.<ref name="Clark1951">{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=J.S. |title=The Formicidae of Australia (Volume 1). Subfamily Myrmeciinae. |publisher=Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia|place=Melbourne |year=1951 |page=16 |url=http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/e/e5/Clark_1951.pdf}}</ref> This proposal was rejected by American entomologist William Brown Jr., who placed it in the subfamily Myrmeciinae with ''Myrmecia'' and ''Prionomyrmex'', under the tribe Nothomyrmeciini.<ref name="Brown_1954">{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=W. L. Jr.|title=Remarks on the internal phylogeny and subfamily classification of the family Formicidae|journal=Insectes Sociaux|date=1954|volume=1|issue=1|pages=21–31|doi=10.1007/BF02223148|s2cid=33824626|url=https://archive.org/details/ants_06626}}</ref> Its distant relationship with extant ants was confirmed after its rediscovery, and its placement within the Formicidae was accepted by most scientists until the late 1980s.<ref name="Taylor_1978">{{cite journal |last1=Taylor|first1=R.W. |year=1978 |title=''Nothomyrmecia macrops'': a living-fossil ant rediscovered |journal=Science |volume=201 |pages=979–985|issue=4360|doi=10.1126/science.201.4360.979|pmid=17743619|bibcode=1978Sci...201..979T|jstor=1746819|s2cid=22673165 |url=https://archive.org/details/ants_02819}}</ref><ref name="Dlussky_Fedoseeva">{{cite book|last1=Dlussky|first1=G.M.|last2=Fedoseeva|first2=E.B.|title=''The origin and early stages of evolution of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)'' in The Cretaceous biocenotic crisis and the evolution of insects|date=1988|publisher=Nauka|location=Moscow|pages=70–144}}</ref> The single waist node led scientists to believe that ''Nothomyrmecia'' should be separate from ''Myrmecia'' and retained Clark's original proposal. This proposal would place the ant into its own subfamily, despite many familiar morphological characteristics between the two genera. This separation from ''Myrmecia'' was retained until 2000.<ref name="Dlussky_Fedoseeva"/><ref name=Jaisson/><ref name="Bolton_1990">{{cite journal|last1=Bolton|first1=B.|title=Army ants reassessed: the phylogeny and classification of the doryline section (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)|journal=Journal of Natural History|date=1990|volume=24|issue=6|pages=1339–1364|doi=10.1080/00222939000770811|bibcode=1990JNatH..24.1339B }}</ref><ref name=Urbani2000/>
thumbnail|left|Label of one of the ''Nothomyrmecia'' specimens collected by Taylor|alt=Casent label showing the details of the rediscovered specimen (i.e. collectors name, when and where it was found) In 2000, entomologist Cesare Baroni Urbani described a new Baltic fossil ''Prionomyrmex'' species (''P. janzeni''). After examining specimens of ''Nothomyrmecia'', Baroni Urbani stated that his new species and ''N. macrops'' were so morphologically similar that they belonged to the same genus. He proposed that the name ''Prionomyrmex'' should replace the name ''Nothomyrmecia'' (which would then be just a synonym), and also that the subfamily Nothomyrmeciinae should be called Prionomyrmeciinae.<ref name=Urbani2000>{{cite journal|last1=Baroni Urbani|first1=C.|title=Rediscovery of the Baltic amber ant genus ''Prionomyrmex'' (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and its taxonomic consequences|journal=Eclogae Geologicae Helveticae|date=2000|volume=93|issue=3|pages=471–480|url=http://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=egh-001:2000:93::628#507}}</ref>
In 2003, Russian palaeoentomologists G. M. Dlussky and E. B. Perfilieva separated ''Nothomyrmecia'' from ''Prionomyrmex'' on the basis of the fusion of an abdominal segment.<ref name="Dlussky2003">{{cite journal |last1=Dlussky |first1=G.M. |last2=Perfilieva |first2=K.S. |year=2003 |title=Paleogene ants of the genus ''Archimyrmex'' Cockerell, 1923 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmeciinae) |journal= Paleontological Journal |volume= 37 |issue= 1 |pages=39–47 |url= http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/9/91/Archimyrmex,_Dlussky,_2003.pdf}}</ref> In the same year, American entomologists P. S. Ward and S. G. Brady reached the same conclusion as Dlussky and Perfilieva and provided strong support for the monophyly of ''Prionomyrmex''. Ward and Brady also transferred both taxa as distinct genera in the older subfamily Myrmeciinae under the tribe Prionomyrmecini.<ref name="Dlussky2003"/><ref name="Ward2003">{{cite journal|last1=Ward|first1=P.S.|last2=Brady|first2=S.G.|title=Phylogeny and biogeography of the ant subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)|journal=Invertebrate Systematics |date=2003 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=361–386 |doi=10.1071/IS02046|url=http://entomology.si.edu/staffpages/brady/2003_ward_brady_invsyst.pdf}}</ref> In 2005 and 2008, Baroni Urbani suggested further evidence in favour of his former interpretation as opposed to Ward and Brady's.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Baroni Urbani |first1=C. |title=Phylogeny and biogeography of the ant subfamily Prionomyrmecinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) |journal=Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova |date=2005 |volume=96 |pages=581–595 |url=http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21007/21007.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120211407/http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21007/21007.pdf |archive-date=20 November 2015 }}</ref><ref name="baro2008">{{cite journal|last1=Baroni Urbani |first1=C. |title=Orthotaxonomy and parataxonomy of true and presumed bulldog ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) |journal=Doriana (Suppl. To Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria) |date=2008 |volume=8 |issue=358 |pages=1–10 |url=http://antbase.org/ants/publications/22177/22177.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054702/http://antbase.org/ants/publications/22177/22177.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |issn=0417-9927 }}</ref> This view is not supported in subsequent relevant papers, which continue to use the classification of Ward and Brady, rejecting that of Baroni Urbani.<ref name="Dlussky2012">{{cite journal |last1=Dlussky |first1=G.M. |year=2012 |title=New fossil ants of the subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Germany |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=288–292 |doi=10.1134/s0031030111050054|bibcode=2012PalJ...46..288D |s2cid=83891156 }}</ref><ref name=PNAS2005/><ref name="Ward2007">{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=P.S. |year=2007 |title=Phylogeny, classification, and species-level taxonomy of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) |journal=Zootaxa |volume=1668 |pages=549–563|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1668.1.26 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moreau|first1=C.S.|last2=Bell|first2=C.D.|last3=Vila|first3=R.|last4=Archibald|first4=S.B.|last5=Pierce|first5=N.E.|title=Phylogeny of the ants: diversification in the age of angiosperms|journal=Science|date=2006|volume=312|issue=5770|pages=101–104|doi=10.1126/science.1124891|pmid=16601190|bibcode=2006Sci...312..101M|s2cid=20729380}}</ref>
The ant is commonly known as the dinosaur ant, dawn ant, or living fossil ant because of its plesiomorphic body structure.<ref name="Clarke_Spier-Ashcroft">{{cite web|last1=Clarke|first1=G.M.|last2=Spier-Ashcroft|first2=F.|title=A Review of the Conservation Status of Selected: Australian Non-Marine Invertebrates|date=2003|url=https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/ce834791-26aa-47d0-9470-7c63dcdeff8f/files/non-marine-invertebrates.pdf|work=Natural Heritage Trust|publisher=Department of the Environment (Government of Australia)|access-date=6 December 2015|pages=81–83}}</ref><ref name=PNAS2005>{{cite journal|last1=Wilson|first1=E.O.|last2=Hölldobler|first2=B.|title=The rise of the ants: A phylogenetic and ecological explanation|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=2005|volume=102|issue=21|pages=7411–7414|bibcode=2005PNAS..102.7411W|doi=10.1073/pnas.0502264102|pmid=15899976|pmc=1140440|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Taylorconv/> The generic name ''Nothomyrmecia'' means "false bulldog ant".<ref name="Clarke_Spier-Ashcroft"/> Its specific epithet, ''macrops'' ("big eyes"), is derived from the Greek words ''{{lang|grc|makros}}'', meaning "long", or "large", and ''{{lang|grc|ops}}'', meaning "eyes".<ref name="Clarke_Spier-Ashcroft"/><ref name=Macroetymology>{{OEtymD|Macro-}}</ref><ref name="Senning_2006">{{cite book|last1=Senning|first1=A.|title=Elsevier's Dictionary of Chemoetymology: The Whys and Whences of Chemical Nomenclature and Terminology|date=2006|publisher=Elsevier|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-0-08-048881-3|page=283|edition=1st}}</ref>
===Genetics and phylogeny=== Studies show that all hymenopteran insects that have a diploid (2n) chromosome count above 52 are themselves all ants; ''Nothomyrmecia'' and another Ponerinae ant, ''Platythyrea tricuspidata'', share the highest number of chromosomes within all the Hymenoptera, having a diploid chromosome number of 92–94.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Imai|first1=H.T.|last2=Taylor|first2=R.W.|last3=Kubota|first3=M.|last4=Ogata|first4=K.|last5=Wada|first5=M.Y.|title=Notes on the remarkable karyology of the primitive ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'', and of the related genus ''Myrmecia'' (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)|journal=Psyche: A Journal of Entomology|date=1990|volume=97|issue=3–4|pages=133–140|doi=10.1155/1990/91237|url=http://antwiki.org/wiki/images/4/41/Taylor_et_al_1991.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Genetic evidence suggests that the age of the most recent common ancestor for ''Nothomyrmecia'' and ''Myrmecia'' is approximately 74 million years old, giving a likely origin in the Cretaceous.<ref name="Ward2003"/> There are two hypotheses of the internal phylogeny of ''Nothomyrmecia'': subfamily Formicinae is more closely related to ''Nothomyrmecia'' than it is to ''Myrmecia'', evolving from ''Nothomyrmecia''-like ancestors. Alternatively, ''Nothomyrmecia'' and Aneuretinae may have shared a common ancestor; the two most likely separated from each other, and the first formicines evolved from the Aneuretinae instead. Currently, scientists agree that ''Nothomyrmecia'' most likely evolved from ancestors to the Ponerinae.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Veeresh|first1=G.K.|last2=Mallik|first2=B.|last3=Viraktamath|first3=C.A.|title=Social Insects and the Environment|date=1990|publisher=E.J. Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-90-04-09316-4|page=315}}</ref> ''Nothomyrmecia'' and other primitive ant genera such as ''Amblyopone'' and ''Myrmecia'' exhibit behaviour similar to a clade of soil-dwelling families of vespoid wasps.{{sfn|Hölldobler|Wilson|1990|p=27}} The following cladogram generated by Canadian entomologist S. B. Archibald and his colleagues shows the possible phylogenetic position of ''Nothomyrmecia'' among some ants of the subfamily Myrmeciinae. They suggest that ''Nothomyrmecia'' may be closely related to extinct Myrmeciinae ants such as ''Avitomyrmex'', ''Macabeemyrma'', ''Prionomyrmex'', and ''Ypresiomyrma''.<ref name=Archibald>{{Cite journal|last1=Archibald |first1=S.B. |last2=Cover |first2=S.P. |last3=Moreau |first3=C.S. |title=Bulldog ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and history of the subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae) |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |year=2006 |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=487–523 |url=http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21067/21067.pdf |doi=10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[487:BAOTEO]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=4845957 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715213405/http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21067/21067.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2015 }}</ref>
thumb|''Nothomyrmecia'' and the extinct ''Prionomyrmex'' are closely related to each other {{clade| style=font-size:100%; line-height:100% |label1=Myrmeciinae |1={{clade |1=†''Archimyrmex'' |2=''Myrmecia'' |3={{clade |1={{clade |1=†''Prionomyrmex janzeni'' |2=†''Prionomyrmex longiceps'' }} |2={{clade |1=†''Macabeemyrma'' |2=†''Avitomyrmex'' |3=†''Ypresiomyrma'' |4='''''Nothomyrmecia''''' }} }} }} }}
==Distribution and habitat== [[File:Nothomyrmecia macrops occurrence map.png|thumbnail|Reported occurrences of ''Nothomyrmecia'' according to the Atlas of Living Australia|alt=Map of Australia showing reported occurrences of ''Nothomyrmecia''.]] ''Nothomyrmecia'' is present in the cool regions of South Australia within mallee woodland and especially old-growth areas populated with various ''Eucalyptus'' species, including ''Eucalyptus brachycalyx'', ''E. gracilis'' and ''E. oleosa''.<ref name=dos/> It is possible that it also occurs in Western Australia, from where it was first collected.<ref name=dos>{{cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/nothomyrmecia-macrops.html |title=Dinosaur Ant, Fossil Ant (''Nothomyrmecia macrops'') |author=Threatened Species Scientific Committee |work=Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities|publisher=Government of Australia|access-date=15 August 2010}}</ref><ref name=antwebmn>{{cite web|title=Species: ''Nothomyrmecia macrops''|url=http://www.antweb.org/description.do?rank=species&genus=nothomyrmecia&species=macrops&project=worldants|work=AntWeb|publisher=The California Academy of Sciences|access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref> The full distribution of ''Nothomyrmecia'' has never been assessed, and it is unknown how widespread it really is. If it does favour old-growth mallee woodland, it could have the potential for a wider range than is currently known from surveys and museum specimens. In 1998, ''Nothomyrmecia'' colonies were located in 18 areas along the Eyre Peninsula by a team of entomologists, a stretch of {{convert|400|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name=dos/><ref name="Foster_1998">{{cite journal|last1=Watts|first1=C.H.S.|last2=McArthur|first2=A.J.|last3=Foster|first3=R.|title=Notes on the distribution of the dinosaur ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' Clark (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in South Australia|journal=Australian Entomologist|date=1998|volume=25|issue=1|pages=29–31|issn=1320-6133}}</ref>
Nests are found in degraded limestone soil with ''Callitris'' trees present.<ref name=antwebmn/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=R. W. |title=Hymenoptera, Formicoidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea |last2=Brown |first2=D.R. |last3=Cardale |first3=J.C. |author-link3=Josephine Cardale |date=1985 |publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service |isbn=978-0-644-03922-2 |series=Zoological catalogue of Australia |volume=2 |location=Canberra |page=6}}</ref> Colony construction only occurs when the soil is moist.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/> Nest entrance holes are difficult to detect as they are only {{convert|4-6|mm|in|abbr=on}} in width, and are located under shallow leaf litter with no mounds or soil deposits present; guards are regularly seen. A single gallery, {{convert|4-5|mm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter, forms inside a ''Nothomyrmecia'' colony. This gallery descends steeply into the ground towards a somewhat elliptical and horizontal chamber that is {{convert|3-5|cm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter and {{convert|5-10|mm|in|abbr=on}} in height. This chamber is typically {{convert|18|to|43|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} below the soil's surface.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
==Behaviour and ecology==
===Foraging, diet and predators=== thumb|left|Workers feeding on honey bait|alt=Foraging workers feeding on experimental honey on a tree. Workers are nectarivores and can be found foraging on top of ''Eucalyptus'' trees, where they search for food and prey for the larvae.<ref name=Choe>{{cite book|last1=Choe|first1=J.C.|last2=Crespi|first2=B.J.|title=The Evolution of Social Behavior in Insects and Arachnids|date=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-58977-2|pages=377–378|edition=1st}}</ref>{{sfn|Hölldobler|Wilson|1990|p=28}} Workers are known to consume hemolymph from the insects they capture, and a queen in a captive colony was observed consuming a fly.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name="Taylor_2014"/> Captured prey items are given to larvae, which are carnivorous.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/> The workers search for prey in piles of leaves, killing small arthropods including ''Drosophila'' flies, microlepidopterans and spiderlings. Prey items are usually less than {{convert|4|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} in size, and workers grab them using their mandibles and forelegs, then kill them with their sting.<ref name=Jaisson>{{cite journal|last1=Jaisson|first1=P.|last2=Fresneau|first2=D.|last3=Taylor|first3=R.W.|last4=Lenoir|first4=A.|title=Social organization in some primitive Australian ants. I. ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' Clark|journal=Insectes Sociaux|date=1992|volume=39|issue=4|pages=425–438|doi=10.1007/BF01240625|s2cid=21934182|url=http://cataglyphis.fr/Publis%20AL/Jaisson-IS1992-Nothomyrmecia.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983">{{cite journal|last1=Hölldobler|first1=B.|last2=Taylor|first2=R.W.|title=A behavioral study of the primitive ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' Clark|journal=Insectes Sociaux|date=1983|volume=30|issue=4|pages=384–401|doi=10.1007/BF02223970|s2cid=19153828|url=http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/7/73/Holldobler_B_1984_(1983).pdf}}</ref> Workers also feed on sweet substances such as honeydew secreted by scale insects and other Hemiptera; one worker alone may feed on these sources for 30 minutes.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name=csiroShattuck>{{cite web|last1=Shattuck|first1=S.O.|last2=Barnett|first2=N.|title=''Nothomyrmecia'' Clark, 1934|url=http://anic.ento.csiro.au/ants/biota_details.aspx?BiotaID=39022|work=Ants Down Under|publisher=CSIRO Entomology|access-date=21 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606072104/http://anic.ento.csiro.au/ants/biota_details.aspx?BiotaID=39022|archive-date=6 June 2010 |date=June 2010}}</ref><ref name="Moffett_2010">{{cite book|last1=Moffett|first1=M.W.|title=Adventures among Ants: a Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions|date=2010|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-94541-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/adventuresamonga00moff/page/125 125]|url=https://archive.org/details/adventuresamonga00moff|url-access=registration|quote=Nothomyrmecia macrops .}}</ref> Pupae may be given to the larvae if a colony has a shortage of food. Workers are able to lay unfertilised eggs specifically to feed the larvae; these are known as trophic eggs. Sometimes the adults, including the queen and other sexually active ants, consume these eggs. Workers transfer food via Trophallaxis to other nestmates, including winged adults and larvae; the anal droplets are exuded by the larvae, which are taken up by the workers.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
Age caste polyethism does not occur in ''Nothomyrmecia'', where the younger workers act as nurses and tend to the brood and the older workers go out and forage. The only ant known other than ''Nothomyrmecia'' which does not exhibit age caste polyethism is ''Stigmatomma pallipes''.<ref name="Taylor_2014"/> Workers are strictly nocturnal, and only emerge from their nests on cold nights.<ref name="Taylor_2014">{{cite journal|last1=Taylor|first1=R.W.|title=Evidence for the absence of worker behavioral subcastes in the sociobiologically primitive Australian ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' Clark (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)|journal=Psyche: A Journal of Entomology|date=2014|volume=2014|issue=4707|pages=1–7|doi=10.1155/2014/232057|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Foster_1998"/> They are most active at temperatures of {{convert|5–10|C|0|abbr=on}}, and are much more difficult to locate on warmer nights. Workers are possibly most active when it is cold because at these times they encounter fewer and less aggressive competitors, including other more dominant diurnal ant species that are sometimes found foraging during warm nights. Cold temperatures may also hamper the escape of prey items, so increasing the ants' hunting success.<ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> Unless a forager has captured prey, workers stay on trees for the remainder of the night until dawn, possibly relying on sunlight to navigate back to their nest.<ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> There is no evidence that they use chemical trails when foraging; instead, workers rely on visual cues to navigate around. Chemical markers may play an important role in recognising nest entrances. The ants are solitary foragers.<ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> Waste material, such as dead nestmates, cocoon shells, and food remnants, are disposed of far away from the nest.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
Workers from different ''Nothomyrmecia'' colonies are not antagonistic towards one another, so they can forage together on a single tree, and they attack if an outsider tries to enter an underground colony.<ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> Ants such as ''Camponotus'' and ''Iridomyrmex'' may pose a threat to foragers or to a colony if they try to enter; foraging workers that encounter ''Iridomyrmex'' ants are vigorously attacked and killed. ''Nothomyrmecia'' workers counter this by secreting alarm pheromones from the mandibular gland and Dufour's gland.<ref name=Taylorconv/><ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> Foraging workers also engage in alternative methods to protect themselves from predators. Adopting a posture by opening the jaws in a threatening stance or deliberately falling onto the ground and remaining motionless until the threat subsides are two known methods. With that said, ''Nothomyrmecia'' is a timid and shy species that retreats if exposed.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
===Life cycle and reproduction=== thumbnail|upright|Two queens showing their vestigial wings, as well as a wingless worker and several cocoons|alt=Two queens showing their short, stubby wings. A similar looking worker is nearby, along with some pupae. Nuptial flight (meaning that virgin queens and males emerge to mate) does not occur in ''Nothomyrmecia''. Instead, they engage in long-range dispersal (they walk away from the colony for some distance and mate) which presumably begins by late summer or autumn, with the winged adults emerging around March and April, but sometimes a colony may overwinter (a process by which an organism waits out the winter season). These winged adults, born around January, are usually quite young when they begin to mate. Queens are seen around vegetation trying to flutter their vestigial wings – a behaviour seen in some brachypterous ''Myrmecia'' queens.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> Due to the queen's brachypterous wings, it is likely that the winged adults mate near their parent nest and release sex pheromones, or instead climb on vegetation far away from their nests and attract fully winged males.<ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ward|first1=P.S.|last2=Taylor|first2=R.W.|title=Allozyme variation, colony structure and genetic relatedness in the primitive ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' Clark (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)|journal=Australian Journal of Entomology|date=1981|volume=20|issue=3|pages=177–183|doi=10.1111/j.1440-6055.1981.tb01026.x|url=https://zenodo.org/record/24964|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{sfn|Hölldobler|Wilson|1990|pp=145–146}} ''Nothomyrmecia'' is a polyandrous ant, in which queens mate with one or more males. In one study of 32 colonies, it was found that queens mated with an average of 1.37 males.<ref name="Sanetra_Crozier_2001">{{cite journal|last1=Sanetra|first1=M.|last2=Crozier|first2=R.H.|title=Polyandry and colony genetic structure in the primitive ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops''|journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology|date=2001|volume=14|issue=3|pages=368–378|doi=10.1046/j.1420-9101.2001.00294.x|s2cid=85310904|doi-access=free}}</ref> After mating, new colonies can be founded by one or more queens; a colony with two queens reduces to a single queen when the nest is mature, forming colonies that are termed monogynous.{{sfn|Hölldobler|Wilson|1990|p=187}}{{sfn|Hölldobler|Wilson|1990|p=217}} The queens will compete for dominance, and the subordinate queen is later expelled by workers who drag her outside the nest.<ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> An existing nest with no queen may adopt a foraging queen looking for an area to begin her colony, as well as workers. Queens are semi-claustral, meaning that during the initial establishment of the new colony the queen will forage among the worker ants so that she can ensure sufficient food to raise her brood. Sometimes a queen will leave her nest at night with the sole purpose of finding food or water for herself.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/>
Eggs are not seen in nests from April to September. They are laid by late December and develop into adults by mid-February; pupation does not occur until March. ''Nothomyrmecia'' is univoltine, meaning that the queen produces a single generation of eggs per season, and it sometimes may take as many as 12 months for an egg to develop into an adult. Adults are defined as either juveniles or post-juveniles: juveniles are too young (perhaps several months old) to have experienced overwintering whereas post-juveniles have. The pupae generally overwinter and begin to hatch by the time a new generation of eggs is laid.<ref name="Taylor_2014"/> Workers are capable of laying reproductive eggs; it is not known if these develop into males, females or both.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trager |first1=J.C. |title=Advances in Myrmecology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aavw-aWxeMIC&pg=PA164|date=1988 |publisher=E.J. Brill |location=Leiden, Netherlands |isbn=978-0-916846-38-1 |page=164 |edition=1st}}</ref> This uncertainty results from the suggestion that, because some colonies have been shown to have high levels of genetic diversity, worker ants could be inseminated by males and act as supplementary reproductives.<ref name="Hölldobler_Taylor_1983"/> Eggs are scattered among the nest, whereas the larvae and pupae are set apart from each other in groups. The larvae are capable of crawling around the nest. When the larvae are ready to spin their cocoons, they swell up and are later buried by workers in the ground to allow cocoon formation. Small non-aggressive workers that act as nurses provide assistance for newborns to hatch from their cocoons. At maturity, a nest may only contain 50 to 100 adults.<ref name="Taylor_1978"/><ref name=Choe/>{{sfn|Hölldobler|Wilson|1990|p=161}} In some nests, colony founding can occur within a colony itself: when a queen dies, the colony may be taken over by one of her daughters, or it may adopt a newly mated queen, restricting reproduction among workers; this method of founding extends the lifespan of the colony almost indefinitely.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sanetra|first1=M.|last2=Crozier|first2=R.H.|title=Daughters inherit colonies from mothers in the 'living-fossil' ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops''|journal=Die Naturwissenschaften|date=2002|volume=89|issue=2|pages=71–74|doi=10.1007/s00114-001-0288-5|pmid=12046624|bibcode=2002NW.....89...71S|s2cid=37381848}}</ref><ref name=Dietemann2004>{{cite journal|last1=Dietemann|first1=V.|last2=Peeters|first2=C.|last3=Hölldobler|first3=B.|date=2004|title=Gamergates in the Australian ant subfamily Myrmeciinae|journal=Naturwissenschaften|volume=91|issue=9|pages=432–435|bibcode=2004NW.....91..432D|doi=10.1007/s00114-004-0549-1|pmid=15278223|s2cid=26161972}}</ref>
==Relationship with humans==
===Conservation=== thumb|left|Sculpture of a ''Nothomyrmecia'' ant in Poochera|alt=A large yellow sculpture of Nothomyrmecia is located in Poochera Before its rediscovery in 1977, entomologists feared that ''Nothomyrmecia'' had already become extinct.<ref name="Hoyt_1997">{{cite book|last1=Hoyt|first1=E.|title=The Earth Dwellers: Adventures in the Land of Ants|date=1997|publisher=Touchstone|location=New York|isbn=978-0-684-83045-2|page=108|edition=1st}}</ref> The ant was listed as a protected species under the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act 1950.<ref name=dos/> In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed ''Nothomyrmecia'' as Critically Endangered, stating that only a few small colonies were known.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> The Threatened Species Scientific Committee states that the species is ineligible for listing under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that populations are declining. Colonies are also naturally depauperate (lacking in numbers of ants), and their distribution is potentially quite extensive across southern Australia, due to the ants' preference for old-growth mallee woodland.<ref name=dos/> With 18 sites known for this species, and the potential for many more being discovered, there seems little immediate possibility of extinction.<ref name=dos/><ref name="Sanetra_Crozier_2003">{{cite journal|last1=Sanetra|first1=M.|last2=Crozier|first2=R.H.|title=Patterns of population subdivision and gene flow in the ant ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' reflected in microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA markers|journal=Molecular Ecology|date=2003|volume=12|issue=9|pages=2281–2295|doi=10.1046/j.1365-294X.2003.01900.x|pmid=12919468|bibcode=2003MolEc..12.2281S |s2cid=10316115}}</ref> With this said, it is unknown how widespread the species actually is, and scientists are not yet clear what, if any, threats affect it.<ref name=dos/>
Suspected anthropogenic threats that can significantly affect ''Nothomyrmecia'' include habitat destruction and fragmentation by railway lines, roads and wheat fields.<ref name=IUCN_1983>{{cite book|last1=Wells|first1=S.M.|last2=Pyle|first2=R.M.|last3=Collins|first3=N.M.|title=The IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book|date=1983|publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources|location=Gland, Switzerland|page=[https://archive.org/details/iucninvertebrate83well/page/508 508]|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.45441|oclc=134558581|url=https://archive.org/details/iucninvertebrate83well}}</ref><ref name=dos/> In the town of Ceduna, west of Poochera, local populations of the ant were almost eliminated after the area was bulldozed and burned during the installation of an underground telephone line, although nearby sites had larger populations than those found in the destroyed site. Colonies may not survive tree-clearing, as they depend on overhead canopies to navigate.<ref name=IUCN_1983/> Bushfires are another major threat to the survival of ''Nothomyrmecia'', potentially destroying valuable food sources, including the trees they forage on, and reducing the population of a colony. These ants may have recovered from previous bushfires, but larger, more frequent fires may devastate the population. ''Nothomyrmecia'' ants can be safe from fires if they remain inside their nests.<ref name=IUCN_1983/><ref name=Taylorconv>{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=R.W.|title=Australian endangered species: Dinosaur Ant|url=https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-dinosaur-ant-21603|publisher=The Conversation|date=9 January 2014|access-date=3 August 2015}}</ref> Climate change could be a threat to their survival, as they depend on cold temperatures to forage and collect food. An increase in the temperature will prevent workers from foraging, and very few areas would be suitable for the species to live in. The cold winds blowing off the Southern Ocean allow ''Nothomyrmecia'' to benefit from the cool temperatures they need for night-time foraging, so an increase in sea temperature could also potentially threaten it.<ref name=Taylorconv/>
Conservationists suggest that conducting surveys, maintaining known populations through habitat protection and fighting climate change may ensure the survival of ''Nothomyrmecia''.<ref name="Clarke_Spier-Ashcroft"/><ref name=Taylorconv/> They also advocate protection of remaining mallee habitat from degradation, and for management actions to improve tree and understorey structure. Because most known populations are found outside protected areas in vegetation alongside roads, a species management plan is required to identify other key actions, including making local councils aware of the presence, conservation status and habitat requirement of ''Nothomyrmecia''. This could result in future land use and management being decided more appropriately at the local level. Not all colonies are found in unprotected areas; some have been discovered in the Lake Gilles Conservation Park and the Chadinga Conservation Reserve. More research is needed to know the true extent of the ant's geographical distribution.<ref name="Clarke_Spier-Ashcroft"/>
===Significance=== ''Nothomyrmecia macrops'' is widely regarded as the most plesiomorphic living ant and, as such, has aroused considerable interest among the entomological community.<ref name=IUCN_1983/><ref name="Canberra Times_1977"/> Following its rediscovery it was the subject of a prolonged and rigorous series of studies involving Australian, American and European ant specialists and it soon became one of the most studied ant species on the planet.<ref name="Schultz_2000"/> ''Nothomyrmecia'' can be cultured with ease, and could potentially prove a useful subject for research into learning in insects as well as the physiology of nocturnal vision.<ref name=IUCN_1983/><ref name="Canberra Times_1977"/> Since its chance discovery at Poochera, the town has become of international interest to myrmecologists, and it is possibly the only town in the world with ant-based tourism. Promoting it as a tourist attraction, ''Nothomyrmecia'' has been adopted as the emblem of the Poochera community.<ref name="Greenslade_2001">{{cite book|last1=Greenslade|first1=P.|title=''National Estate Listing of the invertebrate heritage of South Australia's mound springs'' In L. Halliday (compiler), Proceedings of the 4th mound spring researchers forum|date=2001|publisher=Department for Environment and Heritage|location=Adelaide|page=24|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279059577}}</ref><ref name="Narendra_2012">{{cite web|last1=Narendra|first1=A.|title=The ant town – Poochera|url=https://antvisions.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/the-ant-town-poochera/|work=Ant Visions|date=29 November 2012 |access-date=18 May 2016}}</ref> Pictures of the ant have been stencilled onto the pavements, and a large sculpture of ''Nothomyrmecia'' has been erected in the town.<ref name="Narendra_2012"/><ref name="EPA_South_Australia">{{cite web|title=Biodiversity|url=http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/soe_2013/main/biodi-2-what-do-we-know-about.html|work=State of the Environment, South Australia|publisher=Environment Protection Authority|access-date=23 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="New_2011">{{cite book|last1=New|first1=T.R.|title=''Lowland Insects and Their Environments: Non-forest Habitats'' 'In Considerable Variety': Introducing the Diversity of Australia's Insects|date=2011|page=164|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-1780-0_12|isbn=978-94-007-1780-0}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Cited literature=== *{{cite book|last1=Hölldobler|first1=B.|last2=Wilson|first2=E.O.|title=The Ants|date=1990|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-04075-5|title-link=The Ants}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Nothomyrmecia macrops|''Nothomyrmecia macrops''}} * {{Wikispecies-inline|Nothomyrmecia macrops|''Nothomyrmecia macrops''}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160924154508/http://www.arkive.org/australian-ant/nothomyrmecia-macrops/video-00 ''Nothomyrmecia'' at Arkive.org]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1207403}}
Category:Myrmeciinae Category:Critically endangered insects Category:Ants of Australia Category:Endemic fauna of Australia Category:Endangered fauna of Australia Category:Monotypic ant genera Category:Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands