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Afropone
| †Afropone Temporal range: Turonian, Late Cretaceous Orapa kimberlitic deposits, Botswana | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Ponerinae |
| Genus: | †Afropone Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn, 2004 |
| Type species | |
| Afropone oculata | |
| Diversity | |
| 2 fossil species (Species Checklist) | |
The two species in this genus are known from the late Cretaceous deposits in Orapa, Botswana. These fossils are approximately 91 million years old.
Identification
Description. – Head with occipital margin rounded. Eyes well developed. Female mandible short, evenly curved, lacking masticatory margin. Scutum flat. Propodeum rounded or weakly angular in side view, with no spines or teeth. Hind tibia with two spurs. Fore wing with cells 1+2r, 3r, mcu,and possibly rm closed (3r is inferred as closed based on the thickened R at its junction with Rs which is not preserved; rm is inferred as closed because of the general plesiomorphy of the venation). Pterostigma rather small, elongate, margined by veins. Vein 1Rs directed obliquely apically, meeting R1 at an acute angle. Crossvein cu-a joining M+Cu slightly proximal to 1M. Petiole with moderately developed node, clearly onstricted at junction with gaster. 1st and 2nd gastral (3rd and 4th abdominal) segments separated by distinct constriction.
Distribution
This taxon is known from Orapa kimberlitic deposits, Botswana (Turonian, Late Cretaceous).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- †AFROPONE [incertae sedis in Ponerinae]
- †Afropone Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn, 2004: 5. Type-species: †Afropone oculata, by original designation.
- †Afropone in Ponerinae: Dlussky, et al. 2004: 5.
- †Afropone references: Archibald, et al. 2006: 511 (discussion of taxonomy).
References
- Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
- 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.; Brother, D. J.; Rasnitsyn, A. P. 2004. The first Late Cretaceous ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from southern Africa, with comments on the origin of the Myrmicinae. Insect Systematics & Evolution 35(1): 1-13 [1](page 5, Afropone incertae sedis in subfamily Ponerinae)