Leucotaphus gurnetensis

†Leucotaphus gurnetensis; Temporal range: Priabonian, Late Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl ↓ Bembridge Marls, Isle of Wight, UK
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Genus:	Leucotaphus
Species:	†L. gurnetensis
Binomial name
	†Leucotaphus gurnetensis; (Cockerell, 1915)

This species may belong to Lasius rather than Leucotaphus (Antropov et al., 2014; Perfilieva, 2022).

Identification

This taxon was described from Bembridge Marls, Isle of Wight, UK (Priabonian, Late Eocene).

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

†gurnetensis. †Leptothorax gurnetensis Cockerell, 1915: 485, pl 65, figs. 4, 5 (wing) GREAT BRITAIN (Oligocene). Combination in †Leucotaphus: Donisthorpe, 1920: 89.

Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
Cockerell, T. D. A. 1915. British fossil insects. Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus. 49: 469-499 (page 485, pl. 65, figs. 4, 5 wing described)
Dlussky, G.M. & Perfilieva, K.S. 2014. Superfamily Formicoidea Latreille, 1802. In: Antropov, A. V., Belokobylskij, S. A., Compton, S. G., Dlussky, G. M., Khalaim, A. I., Kolyada, V. A., Kozlov, M. A., Perfilieva, K. S. & Rasnitsyn, A. P. 2014. The wasps, bees and ants (Insecta: Vespida=Hymenoptera) from the Insect Limestone (Late Eocene) of the Isle of Wight, UK. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 104(3-4):335-446.
Donisthorpe, H. 1920b. British Oligocene ants. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 9(6): 81-94 (page 89, Combination in Leucotaphus)
Perfilieva, K.S. 2022. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from localities of the Russian Far East (Amgu, Velikaya Kema). Paleontological Journal, 56(4), 412–425 (doi:10.1134/s0031030122040086).