Camponotites fuscipennis

†Camponotites fuscipennis Temporal range: Late Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl ↓ Florissant, Colorado, United States
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Genus:	Camponotites
Species:	†C. fuscipennis
Binomial name
†Camponotites fuscipennis (Carpenter, 1930)
Synonyms
Camponotus carpenteri Özdikmen, 2010

Boudinot et al. (2024) - These fossils could be considered unidentifiable to species, hence invalid, but are here treated as incertae sedis in Camponotus to highlight their existence. Critically, because of the lack of morphological information, it is possible that a number of these taxa belong to other genera of Camponotini (see Ward et al. (2016) and Ward & Boudinot (2021)). Reexamination of the original material is necessary in all cases (Boudinot et al. (2024), Note 11).

To prevent the uncritical usage of unidentifiable fossils attributed to Camponotus for macroevolutionary analysis, this species has been transferred to the form genus Camponotites. A form genus is a classificatory category used for fossils which are similar in appearance but cannot be reliably assigned to an established genus, in this case Camponotus. See Camponotites for further justification for this treatment. Until then, it is placed within Camponotites, noting that the taxa placed within this genus are unlikely to be closely related to each other.

Distribution

This taxon was described from Florissant, Colorado, United States (Late Eocene).

Nomenclature

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

• †fuscipennis. †Camponotus fuscipennis Carpenter, 1930: 59, pl. 5, fig. 4; pl. 11, fig. 6 (q.) U.S.A. (Oligocene).
  • Status as species: Bolton, 1995b: 101.
  • Senior synonym of †carpenteri: new synonymy, unpublished.
  • Combination in Camponotites: Boudinot et al., 2024: 144.
  • [Note: †Camponotus carpenteri Özdikmen, 2010a: 525, is an unnecessary replacement name; hence an automatic junior synonym of †fuscipennis.]
• †carpenteri. †Camponotus carpenteri Özdikmen, 2010a: 525.
  • Unnecessary replacement name for †Camponotus fuscipennis Carpenter, 1930: 59; hence junior synonym of †fuscipennis: new synonymy, unpublished.
  • [Note: †fuscipennis Carpenter is not a junior homonym; hence †carpenteri is automatically a junior synonym of †fuscipennis).]

References

• Boudinot, B.E., Bock, B.L., Weingardt, M., Tröger, D., Batelka, J., LI, D., Richter, A., Pohl, H., Moosdorf, O.T.D., Jandausch, K., Hammel, J.U., Beutel, R. G. 2024. Et latet et lucet: Discoveries from the Phyletisches Museum amber and copal collection in Jena, Germany. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 711, 111–176 (doi:10.3897/dez.71.112433).
• Carpenter, F. M. 1930. The fossil ants of North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 70: 1-66. (page 59, pl. 5, fig. 4; pl. 11, fig. 6 queen described [Unresolved junior secondary homonym of fuscipennis Wheeler])
• Dlussky, G. M. 1997b. Genera of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Baltic amber. Paleontol. Zh. 31: 616-627 (page 624, Combination in Camponotus)
• Perfilieva, K.S. 2022. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from localities of the Russian Far East (Amgu, Velikaya Kema). Paleontological Journal, 56(4), 412–425 (doi:10.1134/s0031030122040086).
• Theobald, N. 1937a. Les insectes fossiles des terrains oligocènes de France. Nancy: G. Thomas, 473 pp. (page 216, worker, male described)
• Wheeler, W.M. 1915i. The ants of the Baltic Amber. Schriften der Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft zu Königsberg 55: 1-142. (page 136, fig. 56 queen described)