Kyromyrma neffi

†Kyromyrma neffi Temporal range: Turonian, Late Cretaceous K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl ↓ Raritan (New Jersey) amber, New Jersey, United States
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Genus:	Kyromyrma
Species:	†K. neffi
Binomial name
†Kyromyrma neffi Grimaldi & Agosti, 2000

This is the oldest-known member of the subfamily Formicinae (Grimaldi et al., 2018; Perrichot, 2019).

Distribution

This taxon was described from Raritan (New Jersey) amber, New Jersey, United States (Turonian, Late Cretaceous).

Nomenclature

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

• †neffi. †Kyromyrma neffi Grimaldi & Agosti, 2000: 13681, fig. 1 (w.) U.S.A. (Cretaceous).

References

• Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
• Barden, P., Engel, M.S. 2020. Fossil social insects. Encyclopedia of Social Insects, Springer, Cham (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_45-1).
• Borowiec, M.L., Moreau, C.S., Rabeling, C. 2020. Ants: Phylogeny and Classification. In: C. Starr (ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Insects (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_155-1).
• Boudinot, B.E., Borowiec, M.L., Prebus, M.M. 2022. Phylogeny, evolution, and classification of the ant genus Lasius, the tribe Lasiini and the subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 47, 113-151 (doi:10.1111/syen.12522).
• Boudinot, B.E., Perrichot, V., Chaul, J.C.M. 2020. †Camelosphecia gen. nov., lost ant-wasp intermediates from the mid-Cretaceous (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea). ZooKeys 1005, 21–55 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1005.57629).
• Branstetter, M.G., Danforth, B.N., Pitts, J.P., Faircloth, B.C., Ward, P.S., Buffington, M.L., Gates, M.W., Kula, R.R., Brady, S.G. 2017. Phylogenomic insights into the evolution of stinging wasps and the origins of ants and bees. Current Biology 27, 1019–1025 (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.027).
• Grimaldi, D.; Agosti, D. 2000b. A formicine in New Jersey Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and early evolution of the ants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 97: 13: 13678-136 (page 13681, fig. 1 worker described)
• Grimaldi, D.A., Sunderlin, D., Aareo, G.A., Dempsky, M.R., Parker, N.E., Tillery, G.Q., White, J.G., Barden, P., Nascimbene, P.C., Williams, C.J. 2018. Biological Inclusions in Amber from the Paleogene Chickaloon Formation of Alaska. American Museum Novitates 3908: 1-37.
• Perrichot, V. 2019. New Cretaceous records and the diversification of crown-group ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). 8th International Congress on Fossil Insects, Arthropods & Amber, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
• Radchenko, A. 2021. New species of the fossil ant genus Drymomyrmex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Formicinae) from the late Eocene Rovno amber (Ukraine). Palaeoentomology 4: 544-549 (doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.4.6.4).
• van Elst, T., Eriksson, T.H., Gadau, J., Johnson, R.A., Rabeling, C., Taylor, J.E., Borowiec, M.L. 2021. Comprehensive phylogeny of Myrmecocystus honey ants highlights cryptic diversity and infers evolution during aridification of the American Southwest. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 155, 107036 (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107036).
• Varela-Hernández, F., Riquelme, F., Estrada-Ruiz, E. 2024. Elektroformica azquil gen. et sp. nov., a new formicine ant from Oligo-Miocene Mexican amber. Palaeoentomology 7(5), 684-692 (doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.5.11).