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Issue: Vol. 7 No. 5: October 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-10-30
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.5.11
Page range: 684–692
Abstract views: 180
PDF downloaded: 12

Elektroformica azquil gen. et sp. nov., a new formicine ant from Oligo-Miocene Mexican amber

Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Escuela de Estudios Superiores del Jicarero, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, C. P. 62909, Jojutla, Morelos, Mexico
Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Escuela de Estudios Superiores del Jicarero, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, C. P. 62909, Jojutla, Morelos, Mexico
Departamento de Zoología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, C.P.11340, Mexico City, Mexico
Oligocene Simojovel Formation Formicidae Formicine New taxon

Abstract

A novel ant genus and species, Elektroformica azquil gen. et sp. nov. is described from Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Mexican amber. It is placed within the subfamily Formicinae based on the presence of an acidopore. It can be distinguished by its diminutive size, elongated scapes that extend beyond the head’s vertex by approximately double the length of the head, eyes located about 2/3 the distance between the mandible’s base and the head’s vertex. Additional diagnostic features include a distinctive keel-shaped clypeus, a prominently marked promesonotal groove, a discontinuous mesonotum with dorsal and declivitous edges, a curved propodeum lacking differentiated anterior and posterior margins, and a markedly reduced node on a thick petiole. Elektroformica azquil gen. et sp. nov. is in syninclusion with deciduous petals and filaments of a flower identified as cf. Hymenaea mexicana, along with elements closely associated with leaf litter and the soil environment. As an extinct taxon endemic to Oligo-Miocene deposits, Elektroformica azquil gen. et sp. nov. enriches the diversity within the subfamily Formicinae and offers valuable insights into the evolutionary history of formicine ants.

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