''Gracilidris humiloides'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

species of ant in the genus ''

Gracilidris ''Gracilidris'' is a genus of dolichoderine ants with nocturnal behaviour; thought to have gone extinct 15-20 million years ago, they have been found in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina and were described in 2006. For the first time, It was reco ...

''. It was discovered in the

Dominican amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree ''Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil incl ...

, only known from a single specimen, described by Wilson in 1985.Wilson, E. O. 1985c. Ants of the Dominican amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). 3. The subfamily Dolichoderinae. ''Psyche (Cambridge.)'' 92: 17-37 '
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''

Classification

Being only known from a single specimen described in 1985, the species was first placed in the genus ''

Iridomyrmex ''Iridomyrmex'' is a genus of ants called rainbow ants (referring to their blue-green iridescent sheen) first described by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr in 1862. He placed the genus in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicida ...

''. The genus was then revised in 1992, and a majority of

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

ants were transferred to the genus ''

Linepithema ''Linepithema'' is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae. Distribution Their native distribution rage from northern Mexico, east into the Caribbean, and south into northern Argentina. Two species have been spread around the w ...

'', including ''Gracilidris humiloides'', although the species lacked apomorphies that defined the genus ''Linepithema''. Due to position and shape of the eyes, length of the legs and other distinct features, the species has been placed in the genus ''Gracilidris'' in the subfamily

Dolichoderinae Dolichoderinae is a subfamily of ants, which includes species such as the Argentine ant (''Linepithema humile''), the erratic ant, the odorous house ant, and the cone ant. The subfamily presents a great diversity of species throughout the world ...

References

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species). It is one of the modern descendan ...

Hymenoptera of North America Fossil taxa described in 1985 Fossil ant taxa {{Dolichoderinae-stub