Large workers, commonly around 12–18 millimetres.
Fine-art photographic collection
Neoponera villosa
A large tropical American hunter nesting in trees and sheltered cavities.
About this species
Hairy ponerine ant
Neoponera villosa(Fabricius, 1804)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Neoponera villosa is a large ponerine ant of the tropical Americas. Colonies occupy cavities in trees or other protected sites, while workers forage individually for arthropod prey and sugary liquids.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Ponerinae · Ponerini · Neoponera
Source checked · checked 2026-07-15
Central America and northern South AmericaBroad documented localities — not a complete range map.
Southern North America, Central America and northern South America.
Tropical forest, woodland, forest edge and warm wooded landscapes.
Workers forage singly on vegetation and the ground, often during cooler hours.
Live arthropods, carrion and sugary liquids.
Relatively small colonies compared with dominant mass-foraging ants, usually in protected cavities.
What makes this species remarkable?
Workers hunt independently rather than relying on large trail systems.
The species possesses a powerful defensive sting.
Arboreal cavities provide protected nesting sites above the forest floor.