Adetomyrma venatrix

Adetomyrma venatrix, more commonly known as the "Dracula ant" due to its habit of drinking the blood of its young,^{[citation needed]} is an endangered species of ants endemic to Madagascar. Workers of this species are blind. The species was described as the type species of Adetomyrma in 1994, with the genus being an atypical member of its tribe.

Adetomyrma venatrix
A blind worker
A winged male
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Genus:	Adetomyrma
Species:	A. venatrix
Binomial name
Adetomyrma venatrix Ward, 1994[2]

Description

Head of a blind worker

Adetomyrma venatrix was described on the basis of specimens belonging to the worker caste collected from Zombitse Forest, in western Madagascar. The key characteristics of the species was the absence of a clear petiole when viewed from above due to the third abdominal tergite (the sclerite on the dorsal side) lacking a differentiated pretergite. The gaster is large and without constrictions. The ant is blind and has a long sting. It was placed with reservations in the tribe Amblyoponini as it lacks the typical characters of the group.^[3] Later studies considered them as being close to the ancestral members of the Amblyoponinae and they share certain morphological features with Amblyopone pluto such as the presence of laterosclerite.^[4][5]