Myrmica saxonica

Introduction

Myrmica saxonica is an extinct ant species that lived approximately 37.8-33.9 million years ago during the late Eocene period. It was preserved in Bitterfeld amber from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany and was formally described as a new species in 2023 . Workers measured 5.1mm in total body length, with distinctive features including a relatively short and high petiole, massive propodeal spines strongly widened at the base, and metatibiae with pectinate (comb-like) spurs . The body was not coarsely sculptured, with the head, mesosoma and waist showing moderate sculpture patterns typical of some modern Myrmica species . This is a fossil species only known from amber specimens - it cannot be kept as a pet and no living colonies exist.