Myrmica eocenica

Introduction

Myrmica eocenica is an extinct ant species that lived approximately 38-34 million years ago during the late Eocene epoch. Only three worker specimens have ever been found, preserved in Baltic and Scandinavian amber . This species measured about 6.5mm in total body length, making it a moderately sized ant . The workers had coarse body sculpture, long propodeal spines that pointed backward and spread apart, and twelve-segmented antennae with a three-segmented club . The species closely resembles modern Myrmica ants, particularly those in the ritae-group, and shows similarities to the living Myrmica rubra in the shape of its antennal scape .