Cardiocondyla is an Old World genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae.

Distribution Approximately 90 species are currently recognized as belonging to this genus, most of which are distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics, but a few of which occur in the temperate zone. Some species are also found widely separated in North America and the Pacific Islands, as a result of human introduction.

Description Several species of this genus have a striking male polymorphism, with both winged and wingless forms. These males differ not only in morphology, but also in reproductive tactics. Closely related genera are Leptothorax, Stereomyrmex and Romblonella.

Outbreeding

Cardiocondyla elegans worker ants transport young queen ants to alien nests to promote outbreeding. This allows avoidance of inbreeding depression. The worker ants, sisters of these queens, may transport the queens several meters from their natal nest and drop them off at another, alien nest to promote outbreeding with wingless stationary males in a process somewhat analogous to third party matchmaking in humans. After mating during the winter, the sexual females may depart in the spring and find their own colonies.

Species As of 2026, Cardiocondyla contains 88 valid species, including 87 extant and one extinct.

Extant

Cardiocondyla allonivalis Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla argentea Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla argyrotricha Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla atalanta Forel, 1915 Cardiocondyla batesii Forel, 1894 Cardiocondyla brachyceps Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla britteni Crawley, 1920 Cardiocondyla bulgarica Forel, 1892 Cardiocondyla carbonaria Forel, 1907 Cardiocondyla caspiense Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla compressa Seifert, 2017 Cardiocondyla cristata (Santschi, 1912) Cardiocondyla dalmatica Soudek, 1925 Cardiocondyla dalmaticoides Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla elegans Emery, 1869 Cardiocondyla emeryi Forel, 1881 Cardiocondyla excavata Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla fajumensis Forel, 1913 Cardiocondyla gallagheri Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 Cardiocondyla gallilaeica Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla gibbosa Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927 Cardiocondyla goa Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla goroka Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla hashemi Sharaf, 2024 Cardiocondyla heinzei Seifert, 2024 Cardiocondyla israelica Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla itsukii Seifert et al., 2017 Cardiocondyla jacquemini Bernard, 1953 Cardiocondyla kagutsuchi Terayama, 1999 Cardiocondyla kazanensis Terayama, 2013 Cardiocondyla koshewnikovi Ruzsky, 1902 Cardiocondyla kushanica Pisarski, 1967 Cardiocondyla latifrons Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla littoralis Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla longiceps Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla longinoda Rigato, 2002 Cardiocondyla luciae Rigato, 2002 Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, 1890 Cardiocondyla melana Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla micropila Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, 1899 Cardiocondyla monardi Santschi, 1930 Cardiocondyla nana Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla neferka Bolton, 1982 Cardiocondyla nigra Forel, 1905 Cardiocondyla nigrocerea Karavaiev, 1935 Cardiocondyla nivalis Mann, 1919 Cardiocondyla nuda (Mayr, 1866) Cardiocondyla obscurior Wheeler, 1929 Cardiocondyla opaca Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla opistopsis Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla papuana (Reiskind, 1965) Cardiocondyla paradoxa Emery, 1897 Cardiocondyla paranuda Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla parvinoda Forel, 1902 Cardiocondyla persiana Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla pirata Seifert & Frohschammer, 2013 Cardiocondyla rolandi Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla rugulosa Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla sahlbergi Forel, 1913 Cardiocondyla schulzi Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla sekhemka Bolton, 1982 Cardiocondyla semiargentea Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla semirubra Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla shagrinata Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla shuckardi Forel, 1891 Cardiocondyla sima Wheeler, 1935 Cardiocondyla stambuloffii Forel, 1892 Cardiocondyla strigifrons Viehmeyer, 1922 Cardiocondyla subspina Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla sulcata Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla tenuifrons Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla thoracica (Smith, 1859) Cardiocondyla tibetana Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla tiwarii Ghosh, Sheela & Kundu, 2005 Cardiocondyla tjibodana Karavaiev, 1935 Cardiocondyla ulianini Emery, 1889 Cardiocondyla unicalis Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla venustula Wheeler, 1908 Cardiocondyla verdensis Seifert, 2023 Cardiocondyla weserka Bolton, 1982 Cardiocondyla wheeleri Viehmeyer, 1914 Cardiocondyla wroughtonii (Forel, 1890) Cardiocondyla yemeni Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 Cardiocondyla yoruba Rigato, 2002 Cardiocondyla zhoui Huang et al., 2026 Cardiocondyla zoserka Bolton, 1982

Extinct †Cardiocondyla primitiva Radchenko & Khomych, 2025

Unidentifiable One species in the genus has been noted to be unidentifiable to species level as its descriptions was lost or too vague and the type specimens lost, although it theoretically remains a valid binomen. It is listed below. Cardiocondyla humilis (Smith, 1858)

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