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Myrmica paradoxa
| †Myrmica paradoxa Temporal range: Priabonian, Late Eocene Bitterfeld amber, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Myrmicini |
| Genus: | Myrmica |
| Species: | †M. paradoxa |
| Binomial name | |
| †Myrmica paradoxa Radchenko, Dlussky & Elmes, 2007
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Photo Gallery
Radchenko (2023), Figure 1. Myrmica paradoxa, workers: (A) holotype and paratype, general view (arrows indicate propodeal teeth); (B) holotype, head and antenna (arrows indicate shape of frontal carina and 3-segmented funicular club); Myrmica longispinosa, worker, neotype: (C) body, right side lateral view; (D) body, left side dorso-lateral view; (E) hind tibia. Scale bars: A–D – 1 mm, E – 0.5 mm.
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Identification
Radchenko (2023) - Metatibiae with conspicuous pectinate spurs; eyes located approximately at midlength of sides of head; antennal scape gradually and feebly curved at base, funiculus with conspicuous 3-segmented club; frontal carinae short, very weakly curved and merge with rugae, which surround antennal sockets; only anterior part of frons with longitudinal rugae, remaining part of head dorsum with dense, but not coarse reticulation; mesosoma and waist with not coarse reticulation; propodeum with two short, wide, blunt denticles, directed upward and slightly backward.
Myrmica paradoxa is well distinguished from all other fossil Myrmica species by short blunt propodeal denticles (instead of spines), and a three-segmented funicular club.
Myrmica paradoxa is characterized by a rather unusual combination of characters for this genus: on the one hand, the shape of the head and waist, the sculpture of the body and the character of the pilosity, distinct pectinate spurs on the metatibiae are quite normal for Myrmica, while, on the other hand, a short and robust mesosoma with short blunt propodeal denticles are atypical. On the whole, in general appearance it quite resembles species of the genus Manica, but the latter have five-segmented funicular club and multidentate mandible with at least 12 teeth on the masticatory margin (Wheeler G. and Wheeler J. 1970). Recent record of the first fossil Manica species from Baltic amber confirms this characteristic (Zharkov et al. 2023). Nevertheless, a final opinion on the exact taxonomic position of M. paradoxa requires additional study of the type specimens using modern technique (e.g., micro-computed tomography).
Keys including this Species
Distribution
This taxon was described from Bitterfeld amber, Baltic Sea region, Europe (Priabonian, Late Eocene).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- †paradoxa. †Myrmica paradoxa Radchenko, Dlussky & Elmes, 2007: 1496, figs. 2, 3 (w.) GERMANY (Saxonian amber, Eocene). See also: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 654.
Type Material
- Holotype and two paratype workers, complete specimens in the same piece of amber, No. F-199 (GZG.BST.27.199, coll. of M. Kutcher)
(GZG.BST). Germany, Saxony-Anhalt, Bitterfeld amber, late Eocene, Priabonian age, 37.8–33.9 Ma.
Description
References
- Radchenko, A. 2023. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Late Eocene European ambers. Annales Zoologici 73(4), 629-648 (doi:10.3161/00034541anz2023.73.4.006).
- Radchenko, A.G. & Elmes, G.W. 2010. Myrmica ants of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3: 1-789.
- Radchenko, A.G., Dlussky, G. & Elmes, G.W. 2007. The ants of the genus Myrmica from Baltic and Saxonian amber. Journal of Paleontology 81: 1494-1501.
- Zharkov, D., Dubovikoff, D., Abakumov, E. 2022. The first fossil record of the genus Manica Jurine, 1807 from Late Eocene Baltic amber and discussion of the early evolution of Myrmicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Insects, 14, 21 (doi:10.3390/insects14010021).