Ponerinae
The traditional subfamily Ponerinae has recently been divided up into several subfamilies, with several former tribes now elevated to subfamily rank by the British myrmecologist Barry Bolton ("Synopsis and classification of Formicidae". Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 71: 370pp. 2003). Bolton's careful analysis shows that some ponerine groups may be more closely related to other subfamilies than to each other. Bolton's subfamilies of "poneromorph" Formicidae include Amblyoponinae, Ectatomminae (this one, and possibly the next, apparently related to the widely distributed and highly diverse Myrmicinae), Heteroponerinae, Paraponerinae (possibly related to Myrmeciinae - Australian bulldog ants), Ponerinae (in a much more restricted sense) and Proceratiinae.Long considered primitive on the basis of retention of a typical hymenopteran sting and pupae in cocoons, some groups among the poneromorphs exhibit considerable specialization in predatory habits and mandibular form. These two evolutionary developments are often, but not necessarily, in association, e.g. mandible elongated and with modified teeth for handling large and potentially toxic prey in Amblyopone and Thaumatomyrmex, but strongly modified "snap-jaws" and associated musculature in the generalized predator Odontomachus. Most poneromorphs appear to have lost the taste for sweets (nectar, fruit) typical of adult stinging Hymenoptera, and this should probably also be considered an evolutionary "advancement". Foraging for extrafloral nectar and honeydew from Homoptera is retained in Ectatomminae and Paraponerinae, but is perhaps secondarily re-acquired in Odontomachus of the Ponerinae.