A Miocene ant species of the genus Forelius Emery, 1888 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) from Mexico
Citations Over TimeTop 23% of 2023 papers
Abstract
The first fossil ant species of the New World genus Forelius (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) is described. The type material is a Miocene amber inclusion from the Montecristo mine near Simojovel, Chiapas, southwestern Mexico. The new species is named Forelius chenpauch sp. nov. It differs from its congeners by having a unique combination of characters: antennal scapes reaching the posterior margin of the head; pronotum with six erect hairs; mesonotum with four erect hairs; propodeum with four erect hairs; front and dorsum of head, dorsum of pronotum, dorsum of mesonotum and propodeum covered with a fine striation. Forelius chenpauch sp. nov. has a rounded spiracle, which could be considered a plesiomorphic character closely related to the Forelius group from the north of the Amazon basin. Accordingly, the current divergence estimates of Forelius as a single genus from the Leptomyrmex + Forelius + Dorymyrmex clade (ca. 27 Ma) and the occurrence of Forelius chenpauch sp. nov. in the fossil record (ca. 23 Ma), may suggest that the rounded spiracle is a plesiomorphic state probably widespread since the Miocene from southern Mexico to northern South America.
Related Papers
- → EFFECT OF THE NEMATODE PHASMARHABDITIS HERMAPHRODITA ON YOUNGSTAGES OF THE PEST SLUG ARION LUSITANICUS(2002)40 cited
- → Cloning and Characterization of Rat BAT3 cDNA(1999)20 cited
- → Anthoxanthum Mosaic Virus(1970)6 cited
- → HLA-B-associated transcript 3 (Bat3)/Scythe is essential for p300-mediated acetylation of p53(2007)127 cited
- → Ecological and evolutionary importance of neighbors in the grass Anthoxanthum odoratum(1990)20 cited