Workers are roughly 10–14 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Plectroctena strigosa
An ant whose nest entrance can be identified by a graveyard ring of sun-bleached millipede armour.
About this species
Plectroctena strigosaEmery, 1899
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Plectroctena strigosa is an East African ponerine ant and a specialised millipede hunter. Its prey remains accumulate around nests, creating one of the most visually distinctive signatures left by a cryptic ant colony.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Ponerinae · Plectroctena
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
East and southern AfricaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
East and southern Africa
Open woodland, grassland and savannah soils.
Ground-active, usually foraging singly and discreetly.
Millipedes, especially soft or vulnerable individuals and body sections.
Small subterranean colonies.
What makes this species remarkable?
Workers specialise on millipedes — prey protected by hard rings of armour and noxious defensive chemicals that deter most generalist predators.
Discarded exoskeletons accumulate around the entrance until the colony is encircled by a conspicuous halo of pale, sun-bleached millipede remains.
The colony’s hunting life is largely hidden underground and under litter; the prey midden may reveal the nest more readily than any living ant does.
Sources and scientific references
More photographs
1