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Zigrasimecia perrichoti
| †Zigrasimecia perrichoti Temporal range: Early Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous Burmese amber, Kachin State, Myanmar | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Zigrasimeciinae |
| Genus: | Zigrasimecia |
| Species: | †Z. perrichoti |
| Binomial name | |
| †Zigrasimecia perrichoti Chaul, 2023 | |
Photo Gallery
Chaul (2023), Fig. 12. Holotype of Zigrasimecia perrichoti (UFV-LABECOL-010301). A, full-face view of the head; B, profile view of right side of body (crack in the amber on the upper mesosoma and upper head level creating a mirror effect in the image); C, detail of anterior head showing clypeal lobes, and clypeal, mandibular and labral chaetae; D, dorsal view of head and mesosoma; E, dorsal view of gaster; F, meso- and metatibia and meso- and metabasitarsus, white asterisks at distal mesotibia and basal mesobasitarsus, white triangle points to tip of mesotibial spur; black asterisks and triangle the same positions in the hind leg. Scale bars are 0.2 mm in A, D, and E; 0.1 mm in C; and 0.5 mm in B.
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Identification
Medium-sized species. Head subrectangular in full-face view. Standing or conspicuous decumbent setae absent on dorsum of head, mesosoma and most of metasoma (except on apex of gaster, A5–A7); minute pubescence likely present. Petiolar node without a well-formed dorsal surface; apex transversally not bilobed.
Zigrasimecia perrichoti cannot be mistaken for its congeners as the almost entirely glabrous body differentiates it from Zigrasimecia ferox, Zigrasimecia hoelldobleri, Zigrasimecia boudinoti and Zigrasimecia chuyangsui. Zigrasimecia thate and Zigrasimecia ufv-11, which are mostly glabrous, have patches of conspicuous setae on the dorsum of the head. In fact, Z. perrichoti is overall very similar to Zigrasimecia ufv-11, having a very similar head shape, differing mainly on head pilosity and compound eye size. Zigrasimecia caohuijiae shares with Z. perrichoti the lack of standing setae on the body, but it is much smaller, with relatively smaller compound eyes, and a differently shaped mesosoma and head. Regarding the two species described based on queens, Z. perrichoti is unlikely the worker caste of Zigrasimecia goldingot for having more clypeal chaetae and a more rectangular rather than quadrate and unlikely the worker caste of Zigrasimecia tonsora for lacking standing body pilosity.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
This taxon was described from Burmese amber, Kachin State, Myanmar (Early Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- †perrichoti. †Zigrasimecia perrichoti Chaul, 2023: 321, fig. 12 (w.) MYANMAR (Burmese Amber, Cretaceous).
Type Material
- Holotype worker (UFV-LABECOL-010301). Hukawng Valley, Kachin Province, Myanmar; Lower Cenomanian (ca.98.79 ± 0.62 Ma) [CELC].
The specimen has little or no distortion or stretching, the cuticle is not damaged or desiccated. The matrix is very clear, but has a fracture that crosses the specimen from side to side, passing in the head posteriorly and upper mesosoma. The fracture causes a mirroring effect which does interfere significantly with the visualization of the ant, however, multiple facets and different illumination might reveal parts that are obscured by that artifact.