The species can be distinguish from the host using its propodeal spines: they are straight and laterally compressed unlike subterraneus subspecies where they are slight to strongly curved and conical.
In apocritan Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants), the metasoma consists of the second abdominal segment (which typically forms a petiole) and those segments posterior to it, and is often called the gaster rather than referring to it as the "abdomen"; in these insects, the first abdominal segment is called the propodeum and is fused to the thorax.
In the suborder Apocrita of the Hymenoptera, the first abdominal segment is fused to the metathorax, and is then called the propodeum.
Given the differences in the patterns of these macrosetae among these genera, and when considering additional characters as outlined above, LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck 2011 (2011) interpreted the presence of macrosetae on the propodeum within Nylanderia as having arisen independently from those observed in other closely related genera.
In the Apocritan Hymenoptera, the first abdominal segment is fused to the metathorax, where it forms a structure known as the propodeum.