The first queen-worker association for Cretaceous Formicidae: the winged caste of Haidomyrmex cerberus

By

Guo, Yuanyuan
Shih, ChungKun
Zhuo, De
Ren, Dong, 1963-
Zhao, Yunyun
Gao, Taiping

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1048

Pages

69--78

Subjects

Alate queen , dealate queen , Haidomyrmecine , Myanmar , queen ant , workers

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1048.66920

 

Abstract

Two queen ant specimens, one alate and one dealate, from mid-Cretaceous (Late Albian–Early Cenomanian) Burmese amber are herein reported as belonging Haidomyrmex cerberus Dlussky, 1996. This is the first discovery and documentation of an alate queen in Haidomyrmex. Compared with workers of Haidomyrmex cerberus, alate and dealate queens are larger in body size, have smaller compound eyes, a longer antennal scape, more complex mandibles, and a relatively large-sized metasoma. It is hypothesized that these differences are due to caste differences.