Chonidris

†Chonidris; 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:	†Haidomyrmecinae
Genus:	†Chonidris; Perrichot, Wang & Barden, 2020
Type species
	†Chonidris insolita;
Diversity
	1 fossil species; (Species Checklist)

Identification

Perrichot et al. (2020) - Highly similar to Dhagnathos, but smaller (body length ca. 9 mm), with clypeus triangulate and expanded posteriorly into rounded horn, lateral margins of clypeus raised into serrated carina; propodeum with posterodorsal ridge; ventral margin of petiole with pointed spicule-like process and lamella; gastral segments I and II (abdominal segments III and IV) with conspicuous constriction. Separable from Dhagnathos with clypeal horn, apical portion of mandibles, and flagellomeres distinctly more compact; with inner margin of mandible projecting medioventrally into a large triangular blade that is gradually tapering to the tip of mandible; this blade with ventral corner rounded and dorsomedial margin serrate; in frontal view, when mandibles closed, ventral corners of blades slightly overlapping and medial margins almost parallel, nearly touching, so that labrum and clypeal area ventral to horn are entirely concealed, and mandibles are encased in clypeal triangle.

Distribution

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

Castes

Fig. 4. Overview and details of alate females (gynes) of Chonidris insolita gen. et sp. nov. Specimen HA04 (A–B), specimen RM2 (C–E), paratype NIGP172003 (F–G), and holotype NIGP171998 (H). Habitus (A, C, F), heads (B, D, H), wings in lateral view. Scale bars: 1 mm (A, C, E, F), 0.25 mm (B, D, G, H).

Nomenclature

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

†CHONIDRIS [†Haidomyrmecinae]
- †Chonidris Perrichot, Wang & Barden, 2020: 7. Type-species: †Chonidris insolita, by original desgination.

Etymology

The generic name is a combination of choní (Greek, meaning ‘funnel’) and idris (Greek, meaning ‘ant’), in reference to the shape of the clypeus. The name is feminine.

References