Stigmomyrmex

†Stigmomyrmex; Temporal range: Bartonian, Middle to Late Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Baltic amber, Baltic Sea region
	Stigmomyrmex venustus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	†Stigmomyrmex; Mayr, 1868
Type species
	Stigmomyrmex venustus;
Diversity
	2 fossil species; (Species Checklist)

Identification

Radchenko and Dlussky (2017) - The genus Stigmomyrmex is characterized by 10-segmented antennae with the distinct 3-segmented clubs, by the sharply pointed humeri, by the sessile, “gable-like” petiole (similar to that of the species of the modern genus Myrmecina), and by the lack of spurs on the middle and hind tibiae (Mayr 1888, Wheeler 1915). Its taxonomic position is still uncertain. Based on the 10-segmented antennae in Stigmomyrmex, Mayr (1868) compared it with the myrmicine genera Solenopsis, Carebara and Liomyrmex. Nevertheless, Stigmomyrmex well differs from the any other known extinct and extant genera of Myrmicinae, while Bolton (2003) placed it in the tribe Formicoxenini.

Distribution

This taxon is known from Baltic amber (Bartonian, Middle to Late Eocene) and Bitterfeld amber (Bartonian, Middle to Late Eocene).

Castes

Nomenclature

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

†STIGMOMYRMEX [Myrmicinae: Crematogastrini]
- †Stigmomyrmex Mayr, 1868c: 95. Type-species: †Stigmomyrmex venustus, by subsequent designation of Wheeler, W.M. 1911f: 173.

References

Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp. (page 105, Stigmomyrmex in Myrmicinae, Formicoxenini)
Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 395, Stigmomyrmex in Myrmicinae, Formicoxenini)
Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 254, Stigmomyrmex incertae sedis in Formicoxenini)
Dalla Torre, K. W. von. 1893. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus. Vol. 7. Formicidae (Heterogyna). Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 289 pp. (page 78, Stigmomyrmex in Myrmicinae)
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 81, Stigmomyrmex incertae sedis in Myrmicinae)
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, Stigmomyrmex in Myrmicidae, Pheidolidae)
Mayr, G. 1868c. Die Ameisen des baltischen Bernsteins. Beitr. Naturkd. Preuss. 1: 1-102 (page 95, Stigmomyrmex as genus)
Mayr, G. 1868c. Die Ameisen des baltischen Bernsteins. Beitr. Naturkd. Preuss. 1: 1-102 (page 95, Stigmomyrmex in Myrmicinae [Myrmicidae])
Radchenko, A. & Dlussky, G.M. 2017. New species of the extinct ant genus Stigmomyrmex Mayr and designation of the neotype of Stiphromyrmex robustus (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Anneles Zoologici. 67:773-780.
Wheeler, W. M. 1911g. A list of the type species of the genera and subgenera of Formicidae. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 21: 157-175 (page 173, Type species: Stigmomyrmex venustus, by subsequent designation)
Wheeler, W.M. 1915i. The ants of the Baltic Amber. Schriften der Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft zu Königsberg 55: 1-142. (page 70, Stigmomyrmex in Myrmicinae, Tetramoriini)