New Technomyrmex in Dominican amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a reappraisal of Dolichoderinae phylogeny

Abstract

AbstractA new species of Technomyrmex (T. caritatis sp. n.) is described based on workers and larvae from Dominican amber (Oligocene to Lower Miocene). These are preserved with eggs and pupae of the same species and with five other insects in one amber piece found in the Palo Quemado Mine, near Santiago and in two separate amber pieces collected in Carlos Diaz Mine. Both mines are in Cordillera Septentrional. Iridomyrmex hispaniolae Wilson is redescribed and transferred to Technomyrmex. Most Technomyrmex species occur from Africa, east through southern Asia, to Australia. One species transported by human activity is known in the New World and there is only one extant native Neotropical species recorded from Panama. Technomyrmex likely represents a case of an Old World ant genus undergoing extinction in the New World. We discuss the affinities of this genus with the extant Dolichoderinae and the phylogeny of the subfamily.