Camponotites heracleus

Introduction

Camponotites heracleus is an extinct ant species known only from a few fossil specimens preserved in Upper Miocene amber and rock deposits from Oeningen, Baden (Germany) and Radoboj, Croatia . It was first described in 1849 by Oswald Heer as a Formica, based on male fossils . Later studies moved it to the genus Camponotus . The male fossils measure about 12 mm total length, and scientists estimate the female would have been 16-18 mm . The specimens are brownish-black and closely resemble the males of the modern carpenter ant *Camponotus herculeanus* . Only a handful of male specimens have ever been found, making this species a rare glimpse into European ant diversity during the Miocene.