Aphaenogaster groehni

Introduction

Aphaenogaster groehni is an extinct ant species known only from a single fossilized worker preserved in Baltic amber from the Late Eocene epoch, approximately 34 to 38 million years ago . This species was described in 2024 from a specimen found in Poland and currently resides in the collections of the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change in Hamburg . Unlike living ant species available to hobbyists, no colonies, queens, or males have ever been observed, only this one worker specimen exists, making it a species of purely scientific and paleontological interest rather than a candidate for antkeeping .