Yantaromyrmex geinitzi

This species was moved from Hypoclinea to Bothriomyrmex by Dalla Torre (1893) and then to Iridomyrmex by Wheeler (1915b), a position supported by Shattuck (1992a) and Dlussky (1997). Dlussky (1997), in a study of Baltic amber ants, provides a key to genera of ants occurring in this amber, where he states that the anterior margin of the clypeus in Iridomyrmex has a “small medial lobe projecting forwards”. However, his illustration of the head of H. geinitzi (fig. 2e) clearly shows the anterior clypeal margin as being uniformly convex and not with the anteromedial clypeal prominence characteristic of typical Iridomyrmex. Additionally, the eyes (based on fig. 2e) are placed more anteriorly and laterally on the head compared to extant Iridomyrmex, where they are typically positioned more medially and posteriorly. It seems clear that this species does not belong to Iridomyrmex, but rather to Anonychomyrma, as the head is typical of that genus. The body (based on Dlussky’s (1997) fig. 2d) is slightly more elongate than typical extant Anonychomyrma, but not unduly and approaches the morphology seen in some Papua New Guinean species of the genus. Because of this, this species was transferred from Iridomyrmex to Anonychomyrma by Heterick and Shattuck (2011).

Distribution
This taxon was described from Baltic Amber (Eocene).

Nomenclature

 * † geinitzi. †Hypoclinea geinitzi Mayr, 1868c: 58, pl. 3, figs. 47-49 (w.q.m.) BALTIC AMBER (Eocene). Combination in Bothriomyrmex: Dalla Torre, 1893: 170; in Iridomyrmex: Wheeler, W.M. 1915h: 86; provisionally retained in Iridomyrmex: Shattuck, 1992a: 15; retained in Iridomyrmex: Dlussky, 1997: 58; in Anonychomyrma: Heterick & Shattuck, 2011: 169.