Anochetus corayi

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Anochetus corayi
Temporal range: Burdigalian?
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Anochetus corayi SMNSDO834-K1 01.jpg
Anochetus corayi holotype
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus: Anochetus
Species:
A. corayi
Binomial name
Anochetus corayi
Baroni Urbani, 1980

Anochetus corayi is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from one possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. A. corayi is one of eight species in the ant genus Anochetus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Anochetus species found in the Greater Antillies.

Contents

History and classification

Anochetus corayi is known from a solitary fossil insect which is an inclusion in a transparent yellow chunk of Dominican amber. [1] [2] The amber was produced by the extinct Hymenaea protera , which formerly grew on Hispaniola, across northern South America and up to southern Mexico. The specimen was collected from an unspecified amber mine [1] in fossil bearing rocks of the Cordillera Septentrional mountains of northern Dominican Republic. [3] [4] Associated fossil foraminifera date the amber from at least the Burdigalian stage of the Miocene, the associated fossil coccoliths may be as old as the Middle Eocene. This age range is due to the host rock being secondary deposits for the amber, and the Miocene the age range is only the youngest that it might be. [3]

At the time of description, the holotype specimen was preserved in the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart amber collections in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The holotype fossil was first studied by entomologist Cesare Baroni Urbani of the University of Basle with his 1980 type description of the new species being published in the journal Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). The specific epithet corayi is a patronym honoring Mr Armin Coray in recognition of the illustration work he provided for the type description and a number of other amber fossils. [1]

Anochetus corayi is one of eight Anochetus which have been described from Dominican amber and was the first of those species to be described. [1] The second fossil species to be described was A. brevidentatus in 1991. The remaining six species; A. ambiguus , A. conisquamis , A. dubius , A. exstinctus , A. intermedius , and A. lucidus were all described by De Andrade in the a large 1994 paper on Dominican amber Odontomachiti fossils. [2] A number of modern species live in the Greater Antilles, with at least three modern species found on Hispaniola. [5]

Description

The Anochetus corayi type specimen is a small and well preserved alate female. The specimen has an estimated body length of 3.4 millimetres (0.13 in), with a 0.60 millimetres (0.024 in) long head and 0.40 millimetres (0.016 in) long mandibles. The overall coloration of the species is a chestnut brown, with the slightly lighter coxae and gaster, while the wings have dark brown veins and pterostigma and an overall uniform brownish membrane. The mandibles are generally short and notably thick with a flare in width from the base to tips and have a strong convex curvature to them. The apical teeth on each mandible blade are slightly shorter than the ventral teeth. Both the mesonotum and pronotum show a nearly flat upper surface area and the widest point of the trunk is at the propodeum. The propodeum sports two short, obtuse, spines on the rear edge, while the petiole has a single longer spine centrally placed which is anteroventrally compressed. [1]

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Anochetus brevidentatus is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from two possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. A. ambiguus is one of eight species in the ant genus Anochetus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Anochetus species found in the Greater Antillies.

<i>Anochetus conisquamis</i> Extinct species of ant

Anochetus conisquamis is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from one possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. A. conisquamis is one of eight species in the ant genus Anochetus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Anochetus species found in the Greater Antilles.

<i>Anochetus dubius</i> Extinct species of ant

Anochetus dubius is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from two possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. A. dubius is one of eight species in the ant genus Anochetus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Anochetus species found in the Greater Antillies.

<i>Anochetus exstinctus</i> Extinct species of ant

Anochetus exstinctus is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from two possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. A. exstinctus is one of eight species in the ant genus Anochetus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Anochetus species found in the Greater Antillies.

<i>Anochetus intermedius</i> Extinct species of ant

Anochetus intermedius is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from two possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. A. intermedius is one of eight species in the ant genus Anochetus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Anochetus species found in the Greater Antilles.

<i>Anochetus lucidus</i> Extinct species of ant

Anochetus lucidus is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from two possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. A. lucidus is one of eight species in the ant genus Anochetus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Anochetus species found in the Greater Antillies.

Pseudarmadillo cristatus is an extinct species of isopod (woodlouse) in the family Delatorreiidae known from a series of possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. At the time of description P. cristatus was one of two Pseudarmadillo species known from the fossil record and one of only two from Hispaniola.

<i>Aphaenogaster amphioceanica</i> Extinct species of ant

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Pseudarmadillo tuberculatus is an extinct species of isopod in the family Delatorreiidae known from a series of possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. At the time of description P. tuberculatus was one of two Pseudarmadillo species known from the fossil record and one of only two from Hispaniola.

<i>Odontomachus spinifer</i> Extinct species of ant

Odontomachus spinifer is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from one possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. O. spinifer is one of two species in the ant genus Odontomachus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Odontomachus species found in the Greater Antilles.

<i>Odontomachus pseudobauri</i> Extinct species of ant

Odontomachus pseudobauri is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae known from one possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. O. pseudobauri is one of two species in the ant genus Odontomachus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of a number of Odontomachus species found in the Greater Antilles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Baroni Urbani, C. (1980). "Anochetus corayi n. sp., the first fossil Odontomachiti ant. (Amber Collection Stuttgart: Hymenoptera, Formicidae. II: Odontomachiti)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). 55: 1–6.
  2. 1 2 De Andrade, M. L. (1994). "Fossil Odontomachiti Ants from the Dominican Republic (Amber Collection Stuttgart: Hymenoptera, Formicidae. VII: Odontomachiti)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). 199: 1–28.
  3. 1 2 Poinar, G.; Heiss, E. (2011). "New Termitaphididae and Aradidae (Hemiptera) in Mexican and Dominican amber" (PDF). Palaeodiversity. 4: 51–62.
  4. Woodruff, R.E. (2009). "A new fossil species of stag beetle from Dominican Republic amber, with Australasian connections (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)". Insecta Mundi. 0098: 1–10.
  5. Feitosa, R. M.; Lacau, S.; Da Rocha, W. D.; Oliveira, A. R.; Delabie, J. H. C. (2012). "A giant new arboreal species of the ant genus Anochetus from Brazil (Formicidae: Ponerinae)". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 48 (3–4): 253–259. doi: 10.1080/00379271.2012.10697774 .