Avitomyrmex
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Avitomyrmex Temporal range: Ypresian, 51 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmeciinae |
| Tribe: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: |
†Avitomyrmex Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
| Species | |
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| External identifiers for Avitomyrmex | |
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| Encyclopedia of Life | 25048932 |
Avitomyrmex is an extinct genus of bulldog ants in the subfamily Myrmeciinae which contains three described species. The genus was described in 2006 from Ypresian stage (Early Eocene) deposits of British Columbia, Canada. Almost all the specimens collected are queens, with an exception of a single fossilised worker. These ants are large, and the eyes are also large and well developed; a sting is present in one species. The behaviour of these ants may have been similar to extant Myrmeciinae ants, such as foraging solitarily for arthropod prey and never leaving pheromone trails to food sources. Avitomyrmex has not been assigned to any tribe, instead generally being regarded as incertae sedis within Myrmeciinae. However, its identity as an ant has been challenged, although it is undoubtedly a hymenopteran insect.
Avitomyrmex is an extinct genus of ants with three described species. Fossils of Avitomyrmex, along with other extinct Myrmeciinae ants were first studied and described by Bruce Archibald, Stefan Cover and Corrie Moreau of the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They published their 2006 description of the genus and species in an Annals of the Entomological Society of America journal article. The genus name is a combination of the Latin "avitus" meaning "ancient" or "grandfatherly" and the Greek myrmex, meaning "ant".
Included with the genus description, the paper contained the description of Avitomyrmex mastax, Avitomyrmex systenus, and the type species Avitomyrmex elongatus. These fossil species date back to the Middle Ypresian.
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