Zigrasimeciinae

Zigrasimeciinae
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Campanian
Zigrasimecia hoelldobleri holotype worker
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: †Zigrasimeciinae
Borysenko, 2017
Genera

See text

Zigrasimeciinae is a subfamily of ants, known from the Cretaceous period, originally named as the tribe Zigrasimeciini within the subfamily Sphecomyrminae by Borysenko, 2017,[1] it was elevated to full subfamily in 2020. It contains three described genera.[2] They are sometimes known as iron-maiden ants in reference to their densely spiked mouthparts, reminiscent of an iron maiden torture device, that were likely used to trap prey.[3] Boltonimecia canadensis was described from Campanian Canadian amber out of Alberta, Canada, while the species of Protozigrasimecia and Zigrasimecia are both exclusively known from Cenomanian Burmese amber found in Myanmar.[3]

Genera and species

  • Boltonimecia Borysenko, 2017?
    • B. canadensis (Wilson, 1985)
  • Protozigrasimecia Cao et al., 2020
    • P. chauli Cao et al., 2020
  • Zigrasimecia Barden & Grimaldi, 2013
    • Z. boudinoti Chaul, 2023[4]
    • Z. caohuijiae Chaul, 2023[4]
    • Z. chuyangsui Chaul, 2023[4]
    • Z. ferox Perrichot, 2014
    • Z. goldingot Zhuang et al. 2021[5]
    • Z. hoelldobleri Cao et al., 2020
    • Z. perrichoti Chaul, 2023[4]
    • Z. thate Chaul, 2023[4]
    • Z. tonsora Barden & Grimaldi, 2013
Zigrasimeciinae species

References

  1. ^ Borysenko, L.H. (2017). "Description of a new genus of primitive ants from Canadian amber, with the study of relationships between stem- and crown-group ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". Insecta Mundi. 570: 1–57.
  2. ^ Boudinot, B.; Perrichot, V.; Chaul, J. (2020). "†Camelosphecia gen. nov., lost ant-wasp intermediates from the mid-Cretaceous (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea)". ZooKeys (1005): 21–55. Bibcode:2020ZooK.1005...21B. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1005.57629. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7762752. PMID 33390754.
  3. ^ a b Cao, H.; Boudinot, B.; Wang, Z.; Miao, X.; Shih, C.; Ren, D.; Gao, T. (2020). "Two new iron maiden ants from Burmese amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae:† Zigrasimeciini)". Myrmecological News. 30: 161–173. doi:10.25849/myrmecol.news_030:161.
  4. ^ a b c d e Chaul, J. C. M. (2023). "A revision of the Cretaceous ant genus Zigrasimecia Barden & Grimaldi, 2013 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: †Zigrasimeciinae)". Zootaxa. 5325 (3): 301–341. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5325.3.1. PMID 38220906.
  5. ^ Zhuang, Yuhui; Ran, Hao; Li, Xiaoqin; Feng, Chen; Liu, Yu (2022). "A new species of the iron maiden ant based on an alate female from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: †Zigrasimecia)". Cretaceous Research. 130: 105056. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105056. S2CID 240812443.