Camponotites lignitus

†Camponotites lignitus Temporal range: Burdigalian, Early Miocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Radoboj, Croatia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Genus:	Camponotites
Species:	†C. lignitus
Binomial name
†Camponotites lignitus (Germar, 1837)

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 Radoboj, Croatia (Burdigalian, Early Miocene) and is also known from Oeningen, Switzerland (Messinian, Late Miocene).

Nomenclature

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

• †lignitus. †Formica lignitum Germar, 1837: pl. 19, fig. 19 (q.) GERMANY (Miocene?).
  • Combination in Camponotus: Mayr, 1867b: 51.
  • Status as species: Heer, 1850: 112; Giebel, 1856: 163; Heer, 1867: 7; Mayr, 1867b: 51; Scudder, 1891: 692, 702; Dalla Torre, 1893: 240; Handlirsch, 1907: 868; Bolton, 1995b: 108.
  • Combination in Camponotites: Boudinot et al., 2024: 144.

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).
• Germar, E. F. 1837. Fauna insectorum Europae. Fasciculus 19. Insectorum protogaeae specimen sistens insecta carbonum fossilium. Halle: Kümmel, pl. 1-25. (pl. 19, fig. 19 queen described)
• Heer, O. 1849. Die Insektenfauna der Tertiärgebilde von Oeningen und von Radoboj in Croatien. Zweiter Theil: Heuschrecken, Florfliegen, Aderflüger, Schmetterlinge und Fliegen. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, vi + 264 pp. (page 112, see also)
• Mayr, G. 1867b. Vorläufige Studien über die Radoboj-Formiciden, in der Sammlung der k. k. geologischen Reichsanstalt. Jahrb. K-K. Geol. Reichsanst. Wien 17: 47-62 (page 51, Combination in Ca
• 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).