Chemistry of venom alkaloids in the ant genusMegalomyrmex.

Chemical analyses of three species in the Neotropical ant genusMegalomyrmex have identified this taxon as the third myrmicine genus to produce alkaloids as major venom products. Workers ofM. leoninus and workers and ergatoids ofM. goeldii produce one or more of fourtrans-2,5-dialkylpyrrolidines previously identified in other myrmicine genera.M. modestus, on the other hand, is distinctive in producing the novel alkaloid (5E,8E)-3-butyl-5-hexylpyrrolizidine (5d), whose structure was established using a micro-Hofmann degradation sequence. The relationship ofMegalomyrmex to other alkaloid-producing ant genera is discussed along with the possible chemotaxonomic significance of the analyzed species when viewed in terms of the recognized species groups in this genus.