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Elektroformica
| †Elektroformica Temporal range: middle Miocene Mexican amber, Chiapas, Mexico | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Genus: | †Elektroformica Varela-Hernández & Riquelme, 2024 |
| Type species | |
| Elektroformica azquil | |
| Diversity | |
| 1 fossil species (Species Checklist) | |
This is the first (and only) fossil member of the subfamily Formicinae known from Mexico, although several species of the subfamily occur in the Dominican Republic.
Photo Gallery
Varela-Hernández et al. (2024), Fig. 1. Elektroformica azquil. A: Holotype IPN-PAL.201, amber inclusion, isolated by the frame. A1: cf. Hymenaea mexicana Poinar & Brown, 2002 (IPN-PAL.202A-B), petal. A2: Stamen, with filament and anther. B: Close-up of the holotype IPN-PAL.201 in right lateral view. Uppermost strata of the Simojovel Formation in the late Oligocene boundary (~24 Myr), Chiapas, Mexico. A: Scale bar 2mm, B: 0.5 mm.
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Identification
Elektroformica possesses a distinct combination of traits that set it apart from other genera within the subfamily Formicinae. These include (Figs. 1–2):
- scapes long, surpassing the vertex of the head by about twice the length of the head
- eyes about 2/3 the distance between the mandible’s base and the head’s vertex
- clypeus deeply depressed in the area below the gena and the longitudinal medial carina of the clypeus
- clypeus with a fine, but very well marked carina forming a keel that, in lateral view, appears as a continuous rounded border from its anterior to posterior margin
- promesonotal groove prominently marked from a profile view
- mesonotum discontinuous, with dorsal and declivitous edges
- propodeum curved with no differentiated anterior and posterior margins
- petiole thick, node significantly reduced
Distribution
This taxon was described from Mexican amber, Chiapas, Mexico (Middle Miocene).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- †ELEKTROFORMICA [Formicinae]
- †Elektroformica : Varela-Hernández & Riquelme, in Varela-Hernández, Riquelme, et al. 2024: 686, figs. 1-2 (w.) MEXICAN AMBER (Chiapas, Miocene). Type-species: †Elektroformica azquil, by original designation.