Editing Formicinae (section)

{{short description|Subfamily of ants}}
{{distinguish|text=the extinct Formicidae subfamily [[Formiciinae]]}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Camponotus fellah MHNT.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Camponotus fellah]]''
|fossil_range={{fossil_range|Turonian|Recent|ref=<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grimaldi|first1=D.|last2=Agosti|first2=D.|title=A formicine in New Jersey Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and early evolution of the ants|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=2000|volume=97|issue=25|pages=13678–13683|bibcode=2000PNAS...9713678G|doi=10.1073/pnas.240452097|pmid=11078527|pmc=17635|doi-access=free}}</ref>}}
| taxon = Formicinae
| authority = [[Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-Fargeau|Lepeletier]], 1836
| subdivision_ranks = 
| subdivision = 
| type_genus = ''[[Formica]]''
| type_genus_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
| diversity = 51 extant genera in 12 tribes
| diversity_link = #Tribes and genera
}}
[[File:Carpenter ant Tanzania crop.jpg|thumb|Carpenter ant (''[[Camponotus]]'' sp.)]]
The '''Formicinae''' are a [[subfamily]] within the [[Ant|Formicidae]] containing [[ant]]s of moderate evolutionary development.

Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of [[Pupa#Cocoon|cocoons]] around [[pupa]]e, the presence of [[ocellus|ocelli]] in workers, and little tendency toward reduction of [[palp]] or [[antenna (biology)|antenna]]l segmentation in most species, except [[wiktionary:subterranean|subterranean]] groups. Extreme modification of [[Mandible (insect mouthpart)|mandible]]s is rare, except in the genera ''[[Myrmoteras]]'' and ''[[Polyergus]]''. However, some members show considerable evolutionary advancement in behaviors such as [[Slave-making ant|slave-making]] and symbiosis with root-feeding [[hemiptera]]ns. Finally, all formicines have very reduced [[sting (biology)|sting]]s and enlarged [[venom (poison)|venom]] reservoirs, with the venom gland, specialized (uniquely among ants) for the production of [[formic acid]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

All members of the Formicinae "have a one-segmented [[Petiole (insect anatomy)|petiole]] in the form of a vertical scale".<ref>{{cite book|author=Klotz, John H.|chapter=Formicinae|title=Urban ants of North America and Europe: identification, biology, and management|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8014-7473-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7T4gg6j7xUC&pg=PA11}}</ref>