Sphecomyrma
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Sphecomyrma is an extinct genus of ants which existed in the Cretaceous approximately 79 to 92 million years ago. The first specimens were collected in 1966, found embedded in amber which had been exp
Paratype worker of S. freyi
A comparison of the archetypal ant as hypothesised before the discovery of Sphecomyrma. The body details of the hypothesised ancestor (top) are made the same as S. freyi (bottom) for convenience.
Original hypothetical cladogram showing the placement of Sphecomyrma, with the tiphiid wasps as the potential ancestor
Sphecomyrminae
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Sphecomyrminae is an extinct subfamily of ants in family Formicidae known from a series of Cretaceous fossils found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Sphecomyrminae contains eight genera, divided in
