Oecophylla kraussei

†Oecophylla kraussei Temporal range: Ypresian, Early Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Klondike Formation, Republic, Washington, United States
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Genus:	Oecophylla
Species:	†O. kraussei
Binomial name
†Oecophylla kraussei (Dlussky & Rasnitsyn, 1999)

This species is based on a queen that was first briefly mentioned and figured by Douglas and Stockey (1996, fig. 15), who treated it as Formicidae indet. Dlussky and Rasnitsyn (1999) described this fossil as Camponotites kraussei, later distinguishing it from Oecophylla by its distinctively elongated head (Dlussky and Rasnitsyn 2003). Dlussky et al. (2008), however, described Oecophylla longiceps from Messel with such a head shape, recognising this as a species-level variation. Perfilieva et al. (2017) and Perfilieva (2021) subsequently suggested that C. kraussei belongs to Oecophylla due to its forewing venation and elongated petiole, although the authors did not mention its head nor formally transfer it by providing a new diagnosis to separate it from other species of the genus (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) article 13.1.1 and recommendation 13A).

Douglas and Stockey (1996) listed but neither illustrated nor described ants from Quilchena. Archibald and Mathewes (2000) later discussed Quilchena ants, grouping them as Formicidae types A, B, and C, noting the type A queens’ similarity to this species. It is not clear if these are the same as Douglas and Stockey’s ants. Still undescribed, Perfilieva (2021) informally considered a type A queen figured by Archibald et al. (2018, fig. 10A and B) to be a species of Oecophylla without further comment.

Archibald et al. (2024) described and named the type A and B Quilchena species of Archibald and Mathewes (2000) as Eoecophylla quilchenensis and place it within the tribe Oecophyllini, treating type B ants as the males of type A queens. Archibald et al. (2024) formally placed the Republic species in Oecophylla, providing a diagnosis that distinguishes the species within the genus. They also describe but do not name a new species of Oecophyllini from the Okanagan Highlands McAbee locality in British Columbia based on a worker fossil specimen.

Photo Gallery

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  Archibald et al. (2024), Figure 6. Oecophylla kraussei, holotype UWBM-78047 from Republic, WA: A, photograph; B, drawing, and C, drawing of left forewing. Scales 5 mm.

Distribution

This taxon was described from Klondike Formation, Republic, Washington, United States (Lutetian, Middle Eocene).

Nomenclature

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

• †kraussei. †Camponotites kraussei Dlussky & Rasnitsyn, 1999: 74, fig. 2 (q.) U.S.A. (Washington, Eocene).
  • Combination in Camponotites: Dlussky and Rasnitsyn, 2003: 418; Dlussky et al., 2011: 452; Archibald et al., 2018: 224;
  • Combination in Oecophylla: Perfilieva, et al. 2017: 399 (in text); Perfileva, 2021: 78; Archibald, Mathewes & Perfilieva, 2024: 10.
  • Status as species: Dlussky & Rasnitsyn, 2002: 418 (redescription); Dlussky, Karl, et al. 2011: 452; Archibald, Mathewes & Perfilieva, 2024: 10.

References

• Archibald, S.B., Mathewes, R.W., Perfilieva, K.S. 2024. Fossil weaver ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Oecophyllini) of the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of far-western North America. The Canadian Entomologist 156, e2, 1–16 (doi:10.4039/tce.2023.27).
• Archibald, S.B., Rasnitsyn, A.P., Brothers, D.J., Mathewes, R.W. 2018. Modernisation of the Hymenoptera: ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies of the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of western North America. The Canadian Entomologist 150, 205-257 (doi:10.4039/tce.2017.59).
• Dlussky, G.M., Karl, H.-V., Brauckmann, C., Gröning, E. & Reich, M. 2011. Two ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) from the Late Pliocene of Willershausen, Germany, with a nomenclatural note on the genus Camponotites. Paläontologishe Zeitscrift, 85:449–455 (DOI 10.1007/s12542-011-0104-2).
• Dlussky, G. M.; Rasnitsyn, A. P. 1999a. Two new species of aculeate Hymenoptera (Vespida = Hymenoptera) from the Middle Eocene of the United States. Paleontol. Zh. 1999(5 5: 72-75.
• Perfilieva, K.S., Dubovikoff, D.A. & Dlussky, G.M. 2017. Miocene ants from Crimea. Paleontological Journal 51 (4): 391-401. (Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal 2017 (4): 54-64.)