Prionomyrmex

†Prionomyrmex; Temporal range: 42–23 Ma K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Bartonian, Middle to Late Oligocene
	Prionomyrmex longiceps
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Tribe:	Prionomyrmecini
Genus:	†Prionomyrmex; Mayr, 1868
Type species
	Prionomyrmex longiceps;
Diversity
	4 fossil species; (Species Checklist)

There are two species in this genus from the Baltic Amber (Eocene). This genus appears to be ancestral to the genus Myrmecia from Australia.

Identification

Worker. - First funicular joint of antennae about half as long as the second, the second the longest, and the succeeding joints gradually decreasing in length to the pentultimate, which is a little shorter than the last joint. Surface of body smooth, very finely shagreened, but not punctate or rugulose. Hairs moderately abundant, erect or suberect, short on the head, thorax, legs and scapes, somewhat longer on the abdomen. Pubescence indistinct, execept in one specimen (B 259), in which it seems to be abundant but glued to the body by a white film.

Distribution

This taxon is known from Baltic amber (Bartonian, Middle to Late Eocene), Bitterfeld amber (Bartonian, Middle to Late Eocene), Rott, Westphalia, Germany (Late Oligocene).

Biology

The long legs, strong claws and remarkable mandibles of the worker indicate that P. longiceps was predaceous, and in all probability, an arboreal ant.

Association with Other Organisms

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Strepsiptera

This species is a host for the strepsipteran species unknown (Strepsiptera, Myrmecolacidae?) (a parasite) in Baltic amber (Pohl & Kinzelbach, 2001).

Castes

Worker, Male, Queen

Phylogeny

Myrmeciinae

†Archimyrmex (4 species)

Myrmeciini

Myrmecia (93 species, 0 fossil species)

Prionomyrmecini

†Prionomyrmex (4 species)

	†Avitomyrmex (3 species)

	†Macabeemyrma (1 species)

	Nothomyrmecia (1 species, 0 fossil species)

	†Ypresiomyrma (4 species)

See Phylogeny of Myrmeciinae for details.

Nomenclature

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

†PRIONOMYRMEX [Myrmeciinae: Prionomyrmecini]
- †Prionomyrmex Mayr, 1868c: 77. Type-species: †Prionomyrmex longiceps, by monotypy.

References

Archibald, S.B., Cover, S.P. & Moreau, C.S. 2006. Bulldog ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and history of the subfamily. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 99: 486-523.
Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
Baroni Urbani, C. 2000. Rediscovery of the Baltic amber ant genus Prionomyrmex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and its taxonomic consequences. Eclogae Geol. Helv. 93: 471-480 (page 479, Prionomyrmex in Prionomyrmecinae)
Baroni Urbani, C. 2003a. The Baltic amber species of Prionomyrmex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Mitt. Geol.-Paläontol. Inst. Univ. Hambg. 87: 141-146
Billen, J., Khalife, A., Ito, F., Anh, N.D., Esteves, F.A. 2021. The basitarsal sulcus gland, a novel exocrine structure in ants. Arthropod Structure, Development 61, 101041 (doi:10.1016/j.asd.2021.101041).
Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp. (page 73, Prionomyrmex in Myrmeciinae, Prionomyrmecini)
Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 133, Prionomyrmex in Myrmeciinae, Prionomyrmecini)
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1954e. Remarks on the internal phylogeny and subfamily classification of the family Formicidae. Insectes Soc. 1: 21-31 (page 22, Prionomyrmex in Myrmeciinae, Prionomyrmecini)
Dalla Torre, K. W. von. 1893. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus. Vol. 7. Formicidae (Heterogyna). Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 289 pp. (page 22, Prionomyrmex in Ponerinae)
Emery, C. 1877b. Saggio di un ordinamento naturale dei Mirmicidei, e considerazioni sulla filogenesi delle formiche. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 9: 67-83 (page 81, Prionomyrmex in Myrmicidae, Myrmeciidae)
Kathirithamby, J. 2009. Host-Parasitoid Associations in Strepsiptera. Annual Review of Entomology 54, 227–249 (doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.54.110807.090525).
Mayr, G. 1868c. Die Ameisen des baltischen Bernsteins. Beitr. Naturkd. Preuss. 1: 1-102 (page 77, Prionomyrmex in Ponerinae [Poneridae])
Pohl, H., Kinzelbach, R. 2001. First record of a female stylopid (Strepsiptera:? Myrmecolacidae) parasite of a prionomyrmecine ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Baltic amber. Insect Systematics & Evolution 32, 143-146.
Ward, P., and Brady, S. 2003. Phylogeny and biogeography of the ant subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Invertebrate Systematics 17(3): 361-386 (Prionomyrmex in Myrmeciinae, Prionomyrmecini)
Wheeler, W. M. 1915i [1914]. The ants of the Baltic Amber. Schr. Phys.-Ökon. Ges. Königsb. 55: 1-142 [1] (page 25, Prionomyrmex in Ponerinae, Prionomyrmecini)