Aphaenogaster ribbeckei

Introduction

Aphaenogaster ribbeckei was a slender, spiny ant species that lived approximately 34 to 38 million years ago during the Late Eocene period. The single known specimen measures 5.2 mm in total body length and was preserved in Baltic amber from the ancient forests of what is now Poland . This species cannot be kept. Aphaenogaster ribbeckei is extinct and known only from a single worker specimen trapped in amber. No queens, males, or living colonies exist. The only known specimen is housed in a museum collection in Hamburg, Germany .