 The generic name "Nothomyrmecia" means "false bulldog ant".Its specific epithet, "macrops" ("big eyes"), is derived from the Greek words ', meaning "long", or "large", and ', meaning "eyes".Studies show that all hymenopteran insects that have a diploid (2n) chromosome count above 52 are themselves all ants; "Nothomyrmecia" and another Ponerinae ant, "Platythyrea tricuspidata", share the highest number of chromosomes within all the Hymenoptera, having a diploid chromosome number of 92–94.