They are also unusual amongst ants in that the queen-worker difference is very limited and some workers can mate and lay fertilized eggs just like the queen.

Both the secretions from the postpharyngeal glands and the cuticular wax include methyl esters of common fatty acids.

[9] A study of the genome and expressed genes found that the production of enzymes that slow aging (telomerase and sirtuin deacetylases) are increased when workers turn into queens.

[13] Worker, head long, granulated; jaws with a strong tooth near the base pointing downwards and inwards, and thence gradually tapering to the tip, and finely serrated, 1–6th of an inch long; thorax barely grooved; abdominal pedicle small, low, ovate; abdomen very long; sting large; head and abdomen blackish brown, thorax and legs rufous – Length 3/4 of an inch.I have not seen this remarkable Ant in the Carnatic.

It is also found in the Mysore country as I learn from Mr. Hamilton, a most talented and industrious Amateur Entomologist.I have given it the name of saltator from its power of making most surprising jumps which it does when alarmed or disturbed.

It appears to feed on insects, which it often seizes alive.The following is the taxonomic description from C. T. Bingham's Fauna of British India (Hymenoptera – Volume 2):