Carebara groehni

Introduction

Carebara groehni is an extinct ant species known only from fossilized males preserved in Baltic amber from the Late Eocene period, approximately 33.9-37.8 million years ago. Males measure about 4mm in total length and have distinctive antennae with a scape roughly three times longer than wide. The species was described in 2019 from a specimen collected in Jantarny, Kaliningrad Province, Russia. Only male specimens have been found in the fossil record; workers and queens remain unknown. This species represents a window into ant evolution during the Eocene, but it cannot be kept in captivity as it has been extinct for roughly 35 million years.