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Issue: Vol. 8 No. 4: (In progress) August 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-08-29
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.4.11
Page range: 439-446
Abstract views: 323
PDF downloaded: 8

Fast mandibles, sharp eyes: A new fossil species of Odontomachus (Latreille, 1804) gr. cornutus (Formicidae: Ponerinae) from Mexican amber formation

Laboratório de Biossistemática de Formigas, Universidade Federal do Paraná (Departamento de Zoologia), Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Laboratorio de Entomología Forense, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Forenses, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
Formicidae Miocene Simojovel trap-jaw ant wing venation Ponerinae

Abstract

Odontomachus is a remarkable ant genus due to the fast mandibles with kinetic action, ocular prominences and pyriform head. Currently, there are three known fossil species, O. paleomyagra Wappler et al., a compression fossil from Czech Republic, O. pseudobauri De Andrade and O. spinifer De Andrade both from Dominican amber. Here, we describe the first Mexican fossil species from Chiapas amber formation and also the first gyne specimen, namely Odontomachus angulops sp. nov. This species is the second described species for the cornutus group, also composed of the extant species O. cornutus Stitz. The ocular prominences forming angular projections, and the unique combination of wing venation characters and petiole shape, reinforce the cornutus group as a distinct taxon in the genus. We also discuss, based on the external morphology of the fossil, a phylogenetic hypothesis for the cornutus group placement in relation to the other Neotropical Odontomachus groups.

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