Gesomyrmex pulcher

†Gesomyrmex pulcher Temporal range: Lutetian, Middle Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl ↓ Messel, Germany
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Gesomyrmecini
Genus:	Gesomyrmex
Species:	†G. pulcher
Binomial name
†Gesomyrmex pulcher Dlussky, Wappler & Wedmann, 2009

No formal diagnosis or comparative comments were provided when this species was described, only a key for determination. Defining traits based on head shape and colour, which are unreliable in these fossils. Aria et al. (2023) consider this species as species inquirenda.

Identification

Gesomyrmex breviceps, Gesomyrmex flavescens and Gesomyrmex pulcher have relatively disparate morphometrics and are not easily distinguished, complicated by the lack of original diagnoses (Aria et al., 2023).

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  Cephalic morphometrics of gynes for relevant fossil Gesomyrmex species. (a) Head length (HL). (b) Normalized head shape (head length/head width, HRN, squares) and normalized relative eye diameter (eye diameter/head length, HERN, diamonds). Abbreviations: flav., flavescens; germ., germanicus; hoern., hoernesi. (Aria et al., 2023, Fig. 4)

Distribution

This taxon was described from Messel, Germany (Lutetian, Middle Eocene).

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• †pulcher. †Gesomyrmex pulcher Dlussky, Wappler & Wedmann, 2009: 11, figs. 4A, 6G (q.) GERMANY.

References

• Aria, C., Jouault, C., Perrichot, V., Nel, A. 2023. The megathermal ant genus Gesomyrmex (Formicidae: Formicinae), palaeoindicator of wide latitudinal biome homogeneity during the PETM. Geological Magazine, 1–11 (doi:10.1017/s0016756822001248).
• Dlussky, G.M., Wappler, T., Wedmann, S. 2009. Fossil ants of the genus Gesomyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Eocene of Europe and remarks on the evolution of arboreal ant communities. Zootaxa 2031: 1-20 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2031.1.1).