Pheidole primigenia

Introduction

Pheidole primigenia is an extinct ant species known only from three minor worker fossils preserved in Dominican amber, dating back 16-19 million years to the Early Miocene . These tiny ants measured 2.88-3.56mm long and had unusually long pronotal spines on their thorax - a feature not seen in any living New World Pheidole . They were uniformly brown with lighter appendages . While many Pheidole species have big-headed soldier ants, no soldiers or queens of this species have ever been found .