Camelomecia

†Camelomecia Temporal range: Early Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Burmese amber, Kachin State, Myanmar
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Uncertain
Genus:	†Camelomecia Barden & Grimaldi, 2016
Type species
Camelomecia janovitzi
Diversity
1 fossil species (Species Checklist)

The taxonomomic placement of this genus is uncertain and it is currently considered incertae sedis in Formicidae. Boudinot et al. (2020) place it, together with Camelosphecia, in a clade which forms the extinct sister group of the Formicidae, within the superfamily Formicoidea but outside the family Formicidae. Notably, both these genera are only known from alate males and females (queens); workers, if present, have yet to be recovered.

Distribution

This taxon is known from Burmese amber, Kachin State, Myanmar (Early Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous).

Phylogeny

Formicoidea

Camelomecia clade (unplaced to family) Camelomecia Camelosphecia Formicidae               Stem Formicidae Unplaced to subfamily (Baikuris, Cretomyrma, Dlusskyidris) Clade Sphecomyrmines Haidomyrmecinae Sphecomyrminae Zigrasimeciinae Clade Antennoclypeata Brownimeciinae Crown Formicidae               Leptanillinae Martialinae Amblyoponinae - see relationships Apomyrminae Proceratiinae Ponerinae - see relationships Agroecomyrmecinae Paraponerinae Dorylinae - see relationships Aneuretinae Dolichoderinae - see relationships Myrmeciinae - see relationships Pseudomyrmecinae - see relationships Formicinae - see relationships Ectatomminae - see relationships Myrmicinae - see relationships

See Phylogeny of Formicidae for details.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• †CAMELOMECIA [incertae sedis in Formicidae]
  • †Camelomecia Barden & Grimaldi, 2016: 4, description in supplemental information (not paginated). Type-species: †Camelomecia janovitzi Barden & Grimaldi, 2016: 4, description in supplemental information (not paginated), by original designation.

Taxonomic history

• †Camelomecia incertae sedis in Formicidae: Barden & Grimaldi, 2016: in supplemental information (not paginated); Borysenko, 2017: 14.

References

• Barden, P. & Grimaldi, D.A. 2016. Adaptive radiation in socially advanced stem-group ants from the Cretaceous. Current Biology 26: 515-521 (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.060).
• Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
• Boudinot, B.E., Perrichot, V., Chaul, J.C.M. 2020. †Camelosphecia gen. nov., lost ant-wasp intermediates from the mid-Cretaceous (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea). ZooKeys 1005, 21–55 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1005.57629).
• Boudinot, B.E., Richter, A., Katzke, J., Chaul, J.C.M., Keller, R.A., Economo, E.P., Beutel, R.G., Yamamoto, S. 2022. Evidence for the evolution of eusociality in stem ants and a systematic revision of †Gerontoformica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society XX:1-35 (doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab097/6523228).
• Cantone, S., Von Zuben, C.J. 2019. The hindwings of ants: A phylogenetic analysis. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology 2019, 1–11 (doi:10.1155/2019/7929717).
• Fernandez, F., Guerrero, R.J., Sánchez-Restrepo, A.F. 2021. Sistemática y diversidad de las hormigas neotropicales. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 47, 1–20 (doi:10.25100/socolen.v47i1.11082).
• Richter, A., Boudinot, B., Yamamoto, S., Katzke, J., Beutel, R. G. 2022. The first reconstruction of the head anatomy of a Cretaceous insect, †Gerontoformica gracilis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and the early evolution of ants. Insect Systematics and Diversity 6(5): 1-80 (doi:10.1093/isd/ixac013).