Sphecomyrminae is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s in family Formicidae known from a series of

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

fossils found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Sphecomyrminae contains eight genera, divided into two tribes Sphecomyrmini and Zigrasimeciini. The tribe Sphecomyrmini contains the six genera '' Armania'', '' Cretomyrma'', '' Gerontoformica'', '' Orapia'', '' Pseudarmania'' and '' Sphecomyrma''; while Zigrasimeciini contains '' Boltonimecia'' and '' Zigrasimecia''. A number of taxa have been removed from the subfamily and placed either in other subfamilies or are now treated as ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' in Formicidae. Sphecomyrminae is the most basal of the Formicidae subfamilies, but has not been included in several phylogenetic studies of the family. Symplesiomorphies of the subfamily include the structure of the antenna, which has a short basal segment and a flexible group of segments below the antenna tip. The petiole is low and rounded, with an unrestricted gaster and the presence of a

metapleural gland Metapleural glands (also called metasternal or metathoracic glands) are secretory glands that were considered unique to ants and basal in the evolutionary history of ants. They are responsible for the production of an antibiotic fluid that then col ...

. The subfamily is characterized by three major synapomorphies, the short pedicel, a second flagellar segment that is double the length of the other antenna segments, and the loss of the apical end of the CuA veins in the wings of adult males.

Tribes and genera

A 2017 study recognized three tribes, Haidomyrmecini, Sphecomyrmini, and Zigrasimeciini and included the genera formerly placed in Armaniidae within the tribe Sphecomyrmini. Further review of the haidomyrmecins resulted in them being elevated to the separate subfamily

Haidomyrmecinae Haidomyrmecinae, occasionally called hell ants, are an extinct subfamily of ants (Formicidae) known from Cretaceous fossils primarily found in amber from North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, spanning the late Aptian to Campanian, aroun ...

and removed from Sphecomyrminae. *Sphecomyrminae Wilson & Brown, 1967 **Sphecomyrmini Wilson, Carpenter & Brown, 1967 ***'' Armania'' Dlussky, 1983 ***'' Baikuris'' Dlussky, 1987 ***'' Cretomyrma'' Dlussky, 1975 ***'' Dlusskyidris'' Bolton, 1994 ***'' Orapia'' Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn, 2004 ***'' Pseudarmania'' Dlussky, 1983 ***'' Sphecomyrma'' Wilson & Brown, 1967 The genus '' Sphecomyrmodes'' was formerly placed into Sphecomyrmini; however, in 2016, it was made a synonym of the stem group genus '' Gerontoformica'', which was considered ''incertae sedis'' in Formicidae at the time. The former tribe Zigrasimeciini is now considered to comprise the separate subfamily

Zigrasimeciinae Zigrasimeciinae is a subfamily of ants, known from the Cretaceous period, originally named as the tribe Zigrasimeciini within the subfamily Sphecomyrminae by Borysenko, 2017, it was elevated to full subfamily in 2020. It contains three describe ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3966629 †Sphecomyrminae Cretaceous insects Fossil ant taxa Turonian first appearances Campanian extinctions