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The first queen-worker association for Cretaceous Formicidae: the winged caste of Haidomyrmex cerberus.

ABSTRACT: Two queen ant specimens, one alate and one dealate, from mid-Cretaceous (Late Albian-Early Cenomanian) Burmese amber are herein reported as belonging Haidomyrmex cerberus Dlussky, 1996. This is the first discovery and documentation of an alate queen in Haidomyrmex. Compared with workers of Haidomyrmex cerberus, alate and dealate queens are larger in body size, have smaller compound eyes, a longer antennal scape, more complex mandibles, and a relatively large-sized metasoma. It is hypothesized that these differences are due to caste differences.

SUBMITTER: Guo Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8280096 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The first queen-worker association for Cretaceous Formicidae: the winged caste of Haidomyrmex cerberus.

Guo Yuanyuan Y Shih Chungkun C Zhuo De Ren Dong D Zhao Yunyun Y Gao Taiping T

ZooKeys 20210707

Two queen ant specimens, one alate and one dealate, from mid-Cretaceous (Late Albian-Early Cenomanian) Burmese amber are herein reported as belonging Haidomyrmex cerberus Dlussky, 1996. This is the first discovery and documentation of an alate queen in Haidomyrmex. Compared with workers of Haidomyrmex cerberus, alate and dealate queens are larger in body size, have smaller compound eyes, a longer antennal scape, more complex mandibles, and a relatively large-sized metasoma. ...[more]

PMID: 34305419

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