{{Short description|Genus of ants}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Simopelta pergandei casent0178701 profile 1.jpg | image_caption = ''Simopelta pergandei'' worker |display_parents = 3 | taxon = Simopelta | authority = Mann, 1922 | diversity_link = #Species | diversity = 21 species | diversity_ref = <ref name="AntCat">{{AntCat|430131|''Simopelta''|2014|accessdate=4 July 2014}}</ref> | type_species = ''Belonopelta jeckylli'' | type_species_authority = Mann, 1916 }}

'''''Simopelta''''' is a Neotropical genus of ants in the subfamily Ponerinae.<ref name="AWSimopelta"/>

==Distribution== The genus is known from central and northern South America, where they are primarily found in mid-elevation moist forests.<ref name="Schmidt&Shattuck_2014"/>

==Description== Workers are slender, small in size (2.1–4.9&nbsp;mm), and black to orange in color. Queens are dichthadiiform (wingless and with enlarged gasters) and "morphologically simplified" relative to workers. Males remain unknown.<ref name="Schmidt&Shattuck_2014"/>

Species have an army-ant life style, including group predation and nomadism. However, belonging to the tribe Ponerini, they are evidently ponerines and the army-ant like characters are deemed to have evolved through convergent evolution. Compared to other ponerines, colonies are large, consisting of 1,000 to 2,000 individuals.<ref name="Schmidt&Shattuck_2014"/>

==Species== {{div col|colwidth=26em}} *''Simopelta andersoni'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta bicolor'' <small>Borgmeier, 1950</small> *''Simopelta breviscapa'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta curvata'' <small>(Mayr, 1887)</small> *''Simopelta fernandezi'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta jeckylli'' <small>(Mann, 1916)</small> *''Simopelta laevigata'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta laticeps'' <small>Gotwald & Brown, 1967</small> *''Simopelta longinoda'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta longirostris'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta manni'' <small>Wheeler, 1935</small> *''Simopelta mayri'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta minima'' <small>(Brandao, 1989)</small> *''Simopelta oculata'' <small>Gotwald & Brown, 1967</small> *''Simopelta paeminosa'' <small>Snelling, 1971</small> *''Simopelta pentadentata'' *''Simopelta pergandei'' <small>(Forel, 1909)</small> *''Simopelta quadridentata'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta transversa'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta vieirai'' <small>MacKay & MacKay, 2008</small> *''Simopelta williamsi'' <small>Wheeler, 1935</small> {{div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="AWSimopelta">{{cite web |url=http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=simopelta&rank=genus&project=worldants |title=Genus: ''Simopelta'' |work=AntWeb |publisher=California Academy of Sciences |accessdate=September 27, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Schmidt&Shattuck_2014">{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=C. A |last2=Shattuck |first2=S. O. |date=2014 |title=The Higher Classification of the Ant Subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a Review of Ponerine Ecology and Behavior |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3817 |issue=1 |pages=1–242 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1 |pmid=24943802|s2cid=4540972 |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5b27/97e393efc899a703f1f67949a5da578db54f.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224170722/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5b27/97e393efc899a703f1f67949a5da578db54f.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-02-24 }}</ref> }}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Simopelta|''Simopelta''}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q7520541}}

Category:Ponerinae Category:Ant genera Category:Hymenoptera of South America

{{Ponerinae-stub}}