A new genus of hell ants from the Cretaceous (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Haidomyrmecini) with a novel head structure

Phillip Barden; Hollister W. Herhold; David A. Grimaldi

doi:10.1111/syen.12253

A new genus of hell ants from the Cretaceous (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Haidomyrmecini) with a novel head structure

Phillip Barden, Hollister W. Herhold, David A. Grimaldi

Biological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

An unusual Cretaceous trap jaw ant is described from Burmese amber dated to the Late Cretaceous. Linguamyrmex vladi gen.n. sp.n. is distinguished by an unusual suite of morphological characters indicating specialized predatory behaviour and an adaptive strategy no longer found among modern ant lineages. The clypeus, highly modified as in other closely related haidomyrmecine hell ants, is equipped with a paddle-like projection similar to Ceratomyrmex. X-ray imaging reveals that this clypeal paddle is reinforced, most probably with sequestered metals. Presumably this fortified clypeal structure was utilized in tandem with scythe-like mandibles to pin and potentially puncture soft-bodied prey. This unique taxon, which stresses the diversity of stem-group ants, is discussed in the context of modern and other Cretaceous trap jaw ant species. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:40D636A3-4D88-470A-BC5B-85ABFD1A49E2.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	837-846
Number of pages	10
Journal	Systematic Entomology
Volume	42
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12253
State	Published - Oct 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Insect Science

Access to Document

10.1111/syen.12253

Cite this

@article{3ea311c62467431fa8986f926ab4176b,

title = "A new genus of hell ants from the Cretaceous (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Haidomyrmecini) with a novel head structure",

abstract = "An unusual Cretaceous trap jaw ant is described from Burmese amber dated to the Late Cretaceous. Linguamyrmex vladi gen.n. sp.n. is distinguished by an unusual suite of morphological characters indicating specialized predatory behaviour and an adaptive strategy no longer found among modern ant lineages. The clypeus, highly modified as in other closely related haidomyrmecine hell ants, is equipped with a paddle-like projection similar to Ceratomyrmex. X-ray imaging reveals that this clypeal paddle is reinforced, most probably with sequestered metals. Presumably this fortified clypeal structure was utilized in tandem with scythe-like mandibles to pin and potentially puncture soft-bodied prey. This unique taxon, which stresses the diversity of stem-group ants, is discussed in the context of modern and other Cretaceous trap jaw ant species. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:40D636A3-4D88-470A-BC5B-85ABFD1A49E2.",

author = "Phillip Barden and Herhold, {Hollister W.} and Grimaldi, {David A.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 The Royal Entomological Society",

year = "2017",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1111/syen.12253",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "42",

pages = "837--846",

journal = "Systematic Entomology",

issn = "0307-6970",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A new genus of hell ants from the Cretaceous (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Haidomyrmecini) with a novel head structure

AU - Barden, Phillip

AU - Herhold, Hollister W.

AU - Grimaldi, David A.

PY - 2017/10

Y1 - 2017/10

N2 - An unusual Cretaceous trap jaw ant is described from Burmese amber dated to the Late Cretaceous. Linguamyrmex vladi gen.n. sp.n. is distinguished by an unusual suite of morphological characters indicating specialized predatory behaviour and an adaptive strategy no longer found among modern ant lineages. The clypeus, highly modified as in other closely related haidomyrmecine hell ants, is equipped with a paddle-like projection similar to Ceratomyrmex. X-ray imaging reveals that this clypeal paddle is reinforced, most probably with sequestered metals. Presumably this fortified clypeal structure was utilized in tandem with scythe-like mandibles to pin and potentially puncture soft-bodied prey. This unique taxon, which stresses the diversity of stem-group ants, is discussed in the context of modern and other Cretaceous trap jaw ant species. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:40D636A3-4D88-470A-BC5B-85ABFD1A49E2.

AB - An unusual Cretaceous trap jaw ant is described from Burmese amber dated to the Late Cretaceous. Linguamyrmex vladi gen.n. sp.n. is distinguished by an unusual suite of morphological characters indicating specialized predatory behaviour and an adaptive strategy no longer found among modern ant lineages. The clypeus, highly modified as in other closely related haidomyrmecine hell ants, is equipped with a paddle-like projection similar to Ceratomyrmex. X-ray imaging reveals that this clypeal paddle is reinforced, most probably with sequestered metals. Presumably this fortified clypeal structure was utilized in tandem with scythe-like mandibles to pin and potentially puncture soft-bodied prey. This unique taxon, which stresses the diversity of stem-group ants, is discussed in the context of modern and other Cretaceous trap jaw ant species. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:40D636A3-4D88-470A-BC5B-85ABFD1A49E2.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028705330&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85028705330&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/syen.12253

DO - 10.1111/syen.12253

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85028705330

SN - 0307-6970

VL - 42

SP - 837

EP - 846

JO - Systematic Entomology

JF - Systematic Entomology

IS - 4

ER -

A new genus of hell ants from the Cretaceous (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Haidomyrmecini) with a novel head structure

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this