Sphecomyrma

†Sphecomyrma Temporal range: Turonian, Late Cretaceous K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl ↓ Raritan (New Jersey) amber, New Jersey, United States
Sphecomyrma freyi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Sphecomyrminae
Tribe:	Sphecomyrmini
Genus:	†Sphecomyrma Wilson & Brown, 1967
Type species
Sphecomyrma freyi
Diversity
3 fossil species (Species Checklist)

Distribution

This taxon is known from Raritan (New Jersey) amber, New Jersey, United States (Turonian, Late Cretaceous).

Nomenclature

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

• †SPHECOMYRMA [†Sphecomyrminae: †Sphecomyrmini]
  • †Sphecomyrma Wilson & Brown, in Wilson, Carpenter & Brown, 1967: 8. Type-species: †Sphecomyrma freyi, by original designation.

Taxonomic history

• †Sphecomyrma in †Sphecomyrmidae: Dlussky, 1987: 132; Dlussky & Fedoseeva, 1988: 77.
• †Sphecomyrma in †Sphecomyrminae: Wilson, et al. 1967: 6; Wilson, 1987: 49; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990: 9; Bolton, 1994: 187; Grimaldi, et al. 1997: 7.
• †Sphecomyrma in †Sphecomyrminae, *Sphecomyrmini: Bolton, 2003: 261; Borysenko, 2017: 15.
• †Sphecomyrma as genus: all authors.
• †Sphecomyrma catalogues: Bolton, 1995b: 392.
• †Sphecomyrma references: Wilson, et al. 1967: 12 (phylogeny); Wilson, 1987: 49 (review of genus); Grimaldi, et al. 1997: 9 (review of genus); Engel & Grimaldi, 2005: 7 (diagnosis, all species key); Borysenko, 2017: 15.

References

• Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
• Barden, P., Engel, M.S. 2020. Fossil social insects. Encyclopedia of Social Insects, Springer, Cham (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_45-1).
• Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp. (page 187, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrminae)
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 392, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrminae)
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 262, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrminae, Sphecomyrmini)
• 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.
• Boudinot, B.E., Perrichot, V., Chaul, J.C.M. 2020. †Camelosphecia gen. nov., lost ant-wasp intermediates from the mid-Cretaceous (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea). ZooKeys 1005, 21–55 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1005.57629).
• Boudinot, B.E., Richter, A., Katzke, J., Chaul, J.C.M., Keller, R.A., Economo, E.P., Beutel, R.G., Yamamoto, S. 2022. Evidence for the evolution of eusociality in stem ants and a systematic revision of †Gerontoformica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society XX:1-35 (doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab097/6523228).
• Cantone, S., Von Zuben, C.J. 2019. The hindwings of ants: A phylogenetic analysis. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology 2019, 1–11 (doi:10.1155/2019/7929717).
• Dlussky, G. M. 1987. New Formicoidea (Hymenoptera) of the Upper Cretaceous. Paleontol. Zh. 1987(1 1: 131-135 (page 132, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrmidae)
• Dlussky, G. M.; Fedoseeva, E. B. 1988. Origin and early stages of evolution in ants. Pp. 70-144 in: Ponomarenko, A. G. (ed.) Cretaceous biocenotic crisis and insect evolution. Moskva: Nauka, 232 pp. (page 77, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrmidae)
• Grimaldi, D.; Agosti, D.; Carpenter, J. M. 1997. New and rediscovered primitive ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey, and their phylogenetic relationships. American Museum Novitates 3208: 1-43 (page 7, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrminae)
• Grimaldi, D.; Agosti, D.; Carpenter, J. M. 1997. New and rediscovered primitive ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey, and their phylogenetic relationships. American Museum Novitates 3208: 1-43 (page 9, review of genus)
• Hölldobler, B.; Wilson, E. O. 1990. The ants. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, xii + 732 pp. (page 9, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrminae)
• Krynicki, V.E. 2013. Primitive ants (Hymenoptera: Sphecomyrminae) in the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of North Carolina (USA). Life: The Excitement of Biology 1, 156-165.
• Sosiak, C., Cockx, P., Suarez, P.A., McKellar, R., Barden, P. 2024. Prolonged faunal turnover in earliest ants revealed by North American Cretaceous amber. Current Biology (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.058).
• Wilson, E. O. 1987b. The earliest known ants: an analysis of the Cretaceous species and an inference concerning their social organization. Paleobiol. 13: 44-53 (page 49, review of genus)
• Wilson, E. O. 1987b. The earliest known ants: an analysis of the Cretaceous species and an inference concerning their social organization. Paleobiol. 13: 44-53 (page 49, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrminae)
• Wilson, E. O.; Brown, W. L., Jr. 1967. [Untitled. Descriptions of new taxa: Sphecomyrminae Wilson and Brown, new subfamily; Sphecomyrma Wilson and Brown, new genus; Sphecomyrma freyi Wilson and Brown, new species.]. Pp. 6-10 in: Wilson, E. O., Carpenter, (page 8, Sphecomyrma as genus)
• Wilson, E. O.; Carpenter, F. M.; Brown, W. L., Jr. 1967a. The first Mesozoic ants, with the description of a new subfamily. Psyche (Camb.) 74: 1-19 (page 12, p
• Wilson, E. O.; Carpenter, F. M.; Brown, W. L., Jr. 1967a. The first Mesozoic ants, with the description of a new subfamily. Psyche (Camb.) 74: 1-19 (page 6, Sphecomyrma in Sphecomyrminae)

hylogeny)