Camponotites vetus

†Camponotites vetus Temporal range: Lutetian, Middle Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Green River Formation, Colorado, United States
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Genus:	Camponotites
Species:	†C. vetus
Binomial name
†Camponotites vetus (Scudder, 1877)

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.

While it may be tempting to use †C. vetus as a calibration for Camponotus or the Camponotini, it cannot be confidently attributed to any living genus, subgenus, or species group due to insufficient morphological information (Boudinot et al. (2024), Note 12).

Distribution

This taxon was described from Green River Formation, Colorado, United States (Lutetian, Middle Eocene).

Nomenclature

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

• †vetus. †Camponotus vetus Scudder, 1877a: 742 (q.?) U.S.A. (Colorado or Utah, White River, Eocene).
  • Status as species: Scudder, 1891: 693; Dalla Torre, 1893: 257; Handlirsch, 1907: 867; Carpenter, 1930: 19; Bolton, 1995b: 129.
  • 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).
• 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).
• Scudder, S. H. 1877b. The first discovered traces of fossil insects in the American Tertiaries. Bull. U. S. Geol. Geogr. Surv. Territ. 3: 741-762 (page 742, queen ? described)