Gesomyrmex magnus

Introduction

Gesomyrmex magnus is an extinct fossil ant species from the Late Eocene period, approximately 34-50 million years ago. It was discovered in the Bol'shaya Svetlovodnaya deposits in Sikhote-Alin, Russian Far East . This species is remarkable for its extraordinary size - queens measured around 20.5mm in total length, making it dramatically larger than all other known Gesomyrmex species (living and fossil), which max out at under 11mm . The genus Gesomyrmex belongs to the subfamily Formicinae and is known as a megathermal ant, indicating it lived in warm tropical or subtropical environments during the Paleogene period . As a fossil species, only preserved specimens in amber or rock matrices exist - no living colonies are available for study or keeping.