Megaponera analis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Megaponera analis is the sole species of the ant genus Megaponera. They are a strictly termite-eating (termitophagous) ponerine ant species widely distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa and most commonly known for their column-like raiding formation when attacking termite feeding sites. Their sophisticated raiding behaviour gave them the common name Matabele ant after the Matabele tribe, fierce warriors who overwhelmed various other tribes during the 1800s. With some individuals reaching up to 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in length, M. analis is one of the world's largest ants.
In 2014, the specific name analis, in Latin "anus-related", chosen by Latreille, replaced foetens "stinking", given by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793, because Guillaume-Antoine Olivier had given the same name Formica foetens to another species in 1792. Both names allude to the fact that the mandibular gland of this ant releases dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide, which smell like human feces.
Megaponera is a genus of ponerine ant first defined by Gustav Mayr in 1862 for the species Formica analis Latreille, 1802, the sole species belonging to the genus to date. In 1994 William L. Brown Jr. synonymised... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 2 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 3 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
No species of the same family or order lives in Serengeti National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other insects.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Matabele Ant sighting in Serengeti National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 7th most-seen of the 14 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March and August–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Matabele Ant in Serengeti National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–July and October–December, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Matabele Ant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Matabele Ant sightings, Serengeti National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 30%), Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique, about 20%) and Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Matabele Ant is recorded against all the insects logged in Serengeti National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
