Formica phaethusa

†Formica phaethusa Temporal range: Priabonian, Late Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Baltic amber, Baltic Sea region
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Formica
Species:	†F. phaethusa
Binomial name
†Formica phaethusa Wheeler, W.M., 1915
Synonyms
Formica clymene Wheeler, W.M., 1915

Distribution

This taxon was described from Baltic amber, Baltic Sea region, Europe (Priabonian, Late Eocene) and is also known from Bitterfeld amber, Baltic Sea region, Europe (Priabonian, Late Eocene) and Rovno amber, Baltic Sea region, Europe (Priabonian, Late Eocene) (Perkovsky, 2016).

Nomenclature

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

• †clymene. †Formica clymene Wheeler, W.M. 1915h: 127 (w.) BALTIC AMBER (Eocene). [†Formica clymene Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 383. Nomen nudum.] Junior synonym of †phaethusa: Dlussky, 2008a: 52. See also: Dlussky, 1967b: 80.
• †phaethusa. †Formica phaethusa Wheeler, W.M. 1915h: 126, fig. 60 (w.) BALTIC AMBER (Eocene). Senior synonym of †clymene: Dlussky, 2008a: 52. See also: Dlussky, 1967b: 80.

References

• Dlussky, G. M. 1967b. Ants of the genus Formica from the Baltic amber. Paleontol. Zh. 1967(2 2: 80-89 (page 80, see also)
• Perkovsky, E.E. 2016. Tropical and Holoarctic ants in late Eocene ambers. Vestnik zoologii 50(2): 111–122 (doi:10.1515/vzoo-2016-0014).
• Radchenko, A.G., Perkovsky, E.E., Vasilenko, D.V. 2021. Formica species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Formicinae) in late Eocene Rovno amber. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 82, 237–251 (doi:10.3897/jhr.82.64599).
• Wheeler, W.M. 1915i. The ants of the Baltic Amber. Schriften der Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft zu Königsberg 55: 1-142. (page 126, fig. 60 worker described)