Proatta

Proatta is a Southeast Asian genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae.^[1] It contains the single species Proatta butteli, known from the Malay Peninsula, Borneo and Sumatra.^[2]

Proatta
Proatta butteli worker
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Proatta Forel, 1912
Species:	P. butteli
Binomial name
Proatta butteli Forel, 1912

Biology

Due to morphological similarities with the fungus-growing ants, Emery (1922) placed the genus within the tribe Attini. Weber (1958) attributed the shared similarities to convergent evolution, and Bolton (2003) finally moved the genus to Stenammini.^[3] Unlike the attines of the New World, Proatta species are predators and scavengers, and while fungus may grow in refuse piles in the nest, the ants do not actively cultivate fungus.^[2]