''Haidomyrmodes'' 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 ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of ant in the formicid subfamily

Haidomyrmecinae Haidomyrmecinae, occasionally called Hell ants, are an extinct subfamily of ants (Formicidae) known from Cretaceous fossils found in ambers of North America, Europe, and Asia, spanning the late Albian to Campanian, around 100 to 79 million years ...

, and is one of only nine genera placed in the subfamily

. The genus contains a single described species, ''Haidomyrmodes mammuthus''. ''Haidomyrmodes'' is known from several Middle Cretaceous fossils which have been found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

History and classification

''Haidomyrmodes'' is known from a group of three fossils, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

, specimen number "MNHN ARC 50.2", and the

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). O ...

s "MNHN ARC 242" and "MNHN AIX 1.2". All three specimens are housed in the fossil collections of the Department of Earth History,

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. The holotype specimen is composed of a mostly complete winged adult female, while the paratypes are both of incomplete worker caste members. All of the specimens are preserved as inclusions in transparent chunks of Late Albian to Early Cenomanian Charentese amber found in the

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

area of France. MNHNA30163 Haidomyrmodes mammuthus 01

The fossil was first studied by a team of paleoentomologists led by Vincent Perrichot of the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. The team's 2008

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of the new genus and species was published in the journal ''

Naturwissenschaften ''The Science of Nature'', formerly ''Naturwissenschaften'', is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering all aspects of the natural sciences relating to questions of biological significance. I ...

''. The genus name ''Haidomyrmodes'' was coined by Perrichot ''et al'' as a combination of ''

Haidomyrmex ''Haidomyrmex'' is an extinct genus of ants in the formicid subfamily Haidomyrmecinae, and is one of nine genera placed in the subfamily Haidomyrmecinae. The genus contains three described species ''Haidomyrmex cerberus'', ''Haidomyrmex scimit ...

'', the type genus for Haidomyrmecini, and the suffix ''-odes'' meaning "with the form of". The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

''mammuthus'' is a reference to the resemblance between the species' mandibles and the tusks of a mammoth. ''Haidomyrmodes'' is one of five genera in Haidomyrmecini, the other four being '' Ceratomyrmex'', ''

Linguamyrmex ''Linguamyrmex'' is an extinct genus of ant in the formicid subfamily Haidomyrmecinae, and is one of only nine genera placed in the subfamily Haidomyrmecinae. The genus contains three described species, ''Linguamyrmex brevicornis'', ''Linguamy ...

'', ''

'', and ''

Haidoterminus ''Haidoterminus'' is an extinct genus of ant in the Formicidae subfamily Haidomyrmecinae, and is one of only nine genera placed in this subfamily. The genus contains a single described species ''Haidoterminus cippus'' and is known from one La ...

''.

Description

The ''Haidomyrmodes'' holotype gyne has a similar structure to species of ''

''. The mandibles very large and well developed with an L-shaped appearance in side view. In both genera the clypeus has a pair of elongated

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. ...

e and the genae are elongated. The two genera can be told apart by the placement of the bend in the mandible, with ''Haidomyrmodes'' having a more basal bend, and mandibles that are positioned closer to the head when closed. The holotype is overall approximately with a distinct pair of

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-l ...

and large eyes. The clypeus has a concave structure to it in side view and without and setae. In contrast the two paratype specimens, identified as possible worker caste individuals, differ in the structure from the gyne in several ways. Overall they are smaller than the gyne, and have a basal mandible section shorter than that of the gyne, with two long setae and antennae which are shorter.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q16753241 Monotypic fossil ant genera Cretaceous insects Fossil taxa described in 2008

† 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 ...

Haidomyrmecinae