Paraphaenogaster freihauti

Distribution
This taxon was described from.

Nomenclature

 * †. †Paraphaenogaster freihauti Jessen, 2020: 14, figs. 6a, b (w.) GERMANY.

Worker
Holotype BLw/ oG: 4.25, HL: 1.34, HW: 1.24, ED: 0.19, GeL: 0.60, ML: 0.63, MML: 0.32, AL: 1.7, AH: 0.98, HiTL: 1.55, PL: 0.54, PH: 0.37, PPL: 0.34, PPH: 0.34, HeH: 0.22, G1L: 1.28, GL: 1.89. Indices: CI 92.31, IED/HL: 14.29, IHL/AL: 78.52.

Position: Head, alitrunk from dorsolateral, petiole, postpetiole and gaster from lateral.

Colour: Head, alitrunk and first gastral segment dark brown to black, petiole and postpetiole, gastral segments 2–4, and legs medium brown.

BL about 6.14. Head longer than wide, with smoothly rounded occipital corners. Head sides are slightly convex. Strong gena. Eyes located behind mid length of head. Eyes diameter is about 14.3% of head length. Mandibles stout, sub-triangular, with 7–8 teeth. Teeth have approximately the same size. Antenna hardly preserved, only some funicular segments preserved. The anterior margin of clypeus is smooth. Head with distinct longitudinal striae. Alitrunk elongate, slender. Promesonotum dome-shaped, pronotum sculptured longitudinal rugose. Along the middle of the pronotum, there is a deep longitudinal groove, but it is not clear if this is a morphological or a taphonomical feature. Dorsal profile line of propodeum distinctly lower than arched promesonotum. Propodeal spines short, acute, triangular, widened at base. Petiole with distinct peduncle that gradually develops into a tapered rounded node. Although link between peduncle and propodeum is partly disarticulated and morphology gets unclear, a small projection at anteroventral part of peduncle is indicated. Postpetiole in profile with smoothly rounded node. Postpetioles node not as high as petioles node. Helcium articulates at more than half of posterior face of petiole. Gaster complete. First gastral segment far the longest of all gastral segments, reaches slightly more than half-length of gaster.

Type Material
Holotype: NHMM-PE1995/8758-LS, worker. Enspel Oilshale, Rhineland- Palatinate, Germany. Enspel Formation, Upper Oligocene, MP 28; (24.56–24.79 Ma, Mertz et al. 2007), layer S14.

Abbreviation of specimen numbers:NHMM= Naturhistorisches Museum Mainz; PE = Palaeontology Entomology; 2009 = found in 2009; 6281 = running inventory number of the year; LS = Landessammlung (State Collection). Information on the layer is given. They refer to the standard profile in Felder et al. (1998).

Currently stored in the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate, Directorate Archaeology, Department Earth History, Mainz, Germany. In the long term, they will be deposited in the “Typothek” of the State Collection of Natural History Rhineland-Palatinate/Museum of Natural History Mainz, Mainz, Germany (NHMM).

Etymology
Honouring Bernd Freihaut, Darmstadt, a distinguished architect, who ran the project to develop the Fossil- Lagerstätte Enspel and an industrial heritage of basalt mining to the famous touristic site Stöffel-Park (Enspel, Westerwald Mountains, Germany)