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Eoecophylla quilchenensis
| †Eoecophylla quilchenensis Temporal range: Ypresian, Early Eocene Coldwater Beds, Quilchena, British Columbia, Canada | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Genus: | Eoecophylla |
| Species: | †E. quilchenensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Eoecophylla quilchenensis Archibald, Mathewes & Perfilieva, 2024 | |
Photo Gallery
Archibald et al. (2024), Figure 4. Eoecophylla quilchenensis queen forewings. A, holotype BBM-PAL-P000016; B, BBM-PAL-P000020; C, BBM-PAL-P000018; D, paratype BBM-PAL-P000019. BBM-PAL-P000021: E, photograph and F, drawing. BBM-PAL-P000022: G, photograph and H, drawing. BBM-PAL-P000023: I, photograph and J, drawing. BBM-PAL-P000024: K, photograph and L, drawing. All to scale, 5 mm.
Archibald et al. (2024), Figure 5. Eoecophylla quilchenensis males. Paratype BBM-PAL-P000026: A, photograph and B, drawing. Paratype BBM-PAL-P000027: C, photograph and D, drawing. Allotype BBM-PAL-P000025: E, photograph and F, drawing. BBM-PALP000028: G, photograph. BBM-PAL-P000029: H, photograph. BBM-PAL-P000030: I, photograph. BBM-PAL-P000031: J, photograph. All to scale, 5 mm.
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Identification
Queen. Forewings distinct from those of Oecophylla by presence of m-cu stub (originating on Rs+M, not joining Cu) of varying lengths, from very small to less than half length to Cu [Oecophylla: absent], sometimes small stubs of 1r-rs, rs-m present [Oecophylla: absent]; pterostigma similar lengths basad, distad 2r-rs [Oecophylla: considerably longer distad]; by hind wings with well-developed 2M [Oecophylla: absent].
The stub of m-cu is longest in the holotype and varies in other specimens to very short; e.g., see BBM-PAL-P000023 (Fig. 4I, J) and Q-0492 (Fig. 4K). Specimens also vary in the presence of very short stubs of 1r-rs in BBM-PAL-P000019 (Fig. 4D) and rs-m in BBM-PALP000018 (Fig. 4C) and BBM-PAL-P000019 (Fig. 4D).
Hind wing venation is preserved only in the holotype (Fig. 1C–E). This conforms to the type I hind wing venation of Cantone and Von Zuben (2019) by its well-developed 2M and the 2M’s relationships with 1M and rs-m (Fig. 1E). This is unique within Formicinae (Perfilieva 2010), which we consider plesiomorphic, suggesting that Oecophyllini is sister to the rest of the subfamily. A jugal lobe may be present or absent in Cantone and Von Zuben’s (2019) type I hind wings but is always absent in their type II; this cannot be evaluated in E. quilchenensis due to poor preservation. It is very different from their type III, which has very reduced venation.
Specimens that we treat as males of Eoecophylla quilchenensis resemble those of Eoformica in many ways, cf. the figures of Cockerell (1921, plate 8, fig. 11), Carpenter (1930, plate 2, fig. 6), Dlussky and Rasnitsyn (2003, figs. 26–34), and Lapolla and Greenwalt (2015, figs. 13–14). Eoformica was originally erected as a nominal genus by Cockerell (1921), although specimens assigned to it are so indistinctly preserved, have such a range of morphologies, and so are of such indeterminate affinities that it was later treated as a collective genus “which includes poorly preserved wingless imprints of ants in which the waist is one-segmented and narrowly attached to the gaster and the gaster lacks a constriction between the first and second segments” (Dlussky et al. 2009, p. 14).
The Quilchena specimens, however, include many with wings, and the forewing of the allotype has some preserved venation, with Rs+M, 2r-rs, 5Rs, and 4M meeting to form an ×, 5Rs curved towards the anterior margin, and the size and shape of cell 3r all consistent with Oecophyllini. General character states of their bodies agree with males of Oecophylla. In addition, the association of these males at the small outcrop at Quilchena with queens bearing the same wing character states strengthens this determination.
Distribution
This taxon was described from Coldwater Beds, Quilchena, British Columbia, Canada (Ypresian, Early Eocene).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- †quilchenensis. †Eoecophylla quilchenensis Archibald et al., 2024: 5, figs. 1-5 (aq.m.) CANADA (British Columbia, Eocene).
Type Material
All Quilchena insect fossils were collected by RWM, J. Mathewes, G. Guthrie, and Simon Fraser University undergraduate students over many years and are now transferred from the Simon Fraser University collection to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
Queens (type A of Archibald and Mathewes 2000): all preserved in dorsal aspect. Holotype: BBM-PAL-P000016 (SFU number Q-0409AB; Figs. 1C–D, 4A): body with a forewing and hind wing. Paratypes: BBM-PAL-P000017 (Q-0011; Fig. 1A–B): well-preserved body, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000019 (Q-0517; Figs. 2C–D, 4D): much of the body, poorly preserved, well preserved forewing with partial wing beneath it, other forewing disarticulated from the body. Other specimens: BBM-PAL-P000018 (Q-0006; Figs. 2A–B, 4C): part of gaster, much of forewing, perhaps part of hind wing; BBM-PAL-P000020 (Q-0271; Figs. 3, 4B): poorly preserved body, two forewings, one rather complete; BBM-PAL-P000021 (Q-0001; Fig. 4E–F): forewing, mostly complete; BBM-PAL-P000022 (Q-0412; Fig. 4G–H): part of forewing, missing distal portion; BBM-PAL-P000023 (Q-0457; Fig. 4I–J): much of forewing missing distal portion. BBM-PALP000024 (Q-0492; Fig. 4K–L): partial forewing.
Male (type B of Archibald and Mathewes 2000). Allotype: BBM-PAL-P000025 (Q-0007; Fig. 5E–F): almost complete, wings with some venation preserved. Paratypes: BBM-PAL-P000026 (Q-0008; Fig. 5A–B): almost complete, well preserved, but no wings; BBM-PAL-P000027 (Q-0009; Fig. 5C–D): rather well preserved, but no wings, almost no legs. Other specimens: BBM-PALP000028 (Q-0013; Fig. 5G): mostly poorly preserved, parts of four faint wings; BBM-PALP000029 (Q-0258; Fig. 5H): body, some leg parts, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000030 (Q-0456; Fig. 5I): body, most legs, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000031 (Q-0485; Fig. 5J): poorly preserved body, no wings. The following are not figured. BBM-PAL-P000032 (Q-0002): complete but with poorly preserved wings; BBM-PAL-P000033 (Q-0010): partially preserved, no wings, no head, some legs; BBMPAL-P000034 (Q-0012): poorly preserved, faint wings; BBM-PAL-P000035 (Q-0014): poorly preserved body with parts of two legs, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000036 (Q-0019): poorly preserved body, no legs, faint wing(s?); BBM-PAL-P000037 (Q-0021): well-preserved body, no wings; BBMPAL-P000038 (Q-0366): part of body, leg bits, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000039 (Q-0410): poorly preserved body, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000040 (Q-0453): body, some legs, no wings; BBM-PALP000041 (Q-0510): poorly preserved body, no legs, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000042 (RS-160): poorly preserved body, no wings; BBM-PAL-P000043 (RS-281): poorly preserved body, some leg parts, no wings.