Formica flori

Introduction

Formica flori is an extinct ant species that lived during the Late Eocene period, approximately 44 million years ago. It is preserved in Baltic amber and is one of the most abundant fossil ants ever found, comprising about 11% of all ant inclusions in Baltic amber deposits . Workers, queens, and males have been described from specimens preserved in ancient tree resin . The species is remarkably similar to the extant Formica fusca, suggesting it represents an ancient persistent type that has survived through time in essentially unchanged form . It belongs to the Formica fusca species-group and is considered a putative ancestor of many living Formica species .