A new genus of hell ants from the Cretaceous (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Haidomyrmecini) with a novel head structure

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2017

Abstract

An unusual Cretaceous trap jaw ant is described from Burmese amber dated to the Late Cretaceous. Linguamyrmex vladi gen.n. sp.n. is distinguished by an unusual suite of morphological characters indicating specialized predatory behaviour and an adaptive strategy no longer found among modern ant lineages. The clypeus, highly modified as in other closely related haidomyrmecine hell ants, is equipped with a paddle-like projection similar to Ceratomyrmex. X-ray imaging reveals that this clypeal paddle is reinforced, most probably with sequestered metals. Presumably this fortified clypeal structure was utilized in tandem with scythe-like mandibles to pin and potentially puncture soft-bodied prey. This unique taxon, which stresses the diversity of stem-group ants, is discussed in the context of modern and other Cretaceous trap jaw ant species. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:40D636A3-4D88-470A-BC5B-85ABFD1A49E2.

Identifier

85028705330 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Systematic Entomology

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12253

e-ISSN

13653113

ISSN

03076970

First Page

837

Last Page

846

Issue

4

Volume

42

Grant

1523788

Fund Ref

National Science Foundation

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