Camelosphecia, Boudinot & Perrichot & Chaul, 2020

Boudinot, Brendon E., Perrichot, Vincent & Chaul, Julio C. M., 2020, † Camelosphecia gen. nov., lost ant-wasp intermediates from the mid-Cretaceous (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea), ZooKeys 1005, pp. 21-55 : 21

† Camelosphecia gen. nov. Figs 1A , 2A , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16

Type species.

† Camelosphecia fossor sp. nov., by present designation.

Constituent species.

† Cs. fossor sp. nov., † Cs. venator sp. nov.

Diagnosis.

Identifiable as members of the † Camelomecia clade by the bowed mandibles with elongate masticatory margins, projecting clypeus, and absence of clypeal chaetae, frontal carinae, and facial projections, as outlined in the key above.

Both sexes specifically differentiated from † Camelomecia by: (1) the conspicuously-developed mandibular teeth on the masticatory margin (versus teeth present as mere crenulation or absent altogether); (2) fore wing 1cu-a crossvein distant proximally from divergence of free M and Cu by at least one of its own lengths (the phrase "markedly prefurcal" is used to describe this condition throughout this work; versus 1m-cu proximal to M+Cu split by less than one 1m-cu length, or 1m-cu usually at or distal to split, as observed in all known † Camelomecia and † Haidomyrmecinae , for example); and (3) crossvein 2m-cu absent (versus 2m-cu present or absent).

Females further differentiated from those of † Camelomecia as follows: (4) occipital carina of female extending to hypostoma (versus not); (5) compound eyes of female massively enlarged, filling entire lateral portion of head in profile view and rendering malar space virtually absent (versus compound eyes smaller, malar space well-defined); (6) teeth of masticatory mandibular margins conspicuously developed (versus present as crenulation or absent altogether); (7) disc (main central region) of labrum in the female bearing massive, long, thick chaetae (versus such chaetae absent); (8) anterior clypeal margin bidentate medially (versus margin edentate); (9) notauli on mesoscutum absent (versus present); (10) fore femora powerfully enlarged (versus weak and thin); (11) protarsomeres I and II margined with an array of differentiated psammochaetae (versus such chaetae absent); (12) posterolateral corners of propodeum armed (versus denticles absent or present); (13) abdominal poststernite IV short relative to posttergite.

Males, as so far known for both genera, are further differentiated from † Camelomecia in having: (14) eyes medially binocular, i.e., with clypeus nearly concave and compound eyes massively, medially bulging such that medial-most ommatidia of each eye are directed toward one another.

Etymology.

The root of the generic name, camelo -, is made in reference to † Camelomecia , the camel-faced ants; the second part of the name, - sphecia emphasizes the waspiness of these intermediate formicoids.

Figures

Figure 1. Mandibles of representative Formicoidea A † Camelosphecia fossor gen. et sp. nov. holotype female, lateral oblique (ANTWEB 1038930) B † Gerontoformica species, male, dorsal or full-face view (ANTWEB 1032638) C † Chonidris insolita holotype female, anterolateral oblique (FANTWEB 00022, AntWeb: Vincent Perrichot).

Figure 2. Mouthparts of † Camelomecia clade genera A † Camelosphecia fossor gen. et sp. nov. holotype female, dorsolateral oblique (ANTWEB 1038930) B † Camelomecia janovitzi holotype female, anterolateral oblique (AMNH-BUTJ 003, AntWeb: Phil Barden).

Figure 13. Holotype of † Camelosphecia fossor sp. nov. A lateral view of right side of head B full face view of head, right margin blurred on this view due to a folding of the facet. Box on bottom right evidencing scape under fluorescent microscopy C detail of clypeus, mandibles and labrum under fluorescent microscopy D posterodorsal view of anterior section of funiculus (pedicel plus flagellum), evincing pedicel and antennomeres III and IV. Abbreviations: a 3 - 5, antennomeres III-V; abdsw, abductor swelling; bs, bubble stream; ce, compound eye; cl, clypeus; clb, clypeal lobe; clt, clypeal teeth; crcond, cranial condyle; md, mandible; mm, masticatory margins; lbs, labral chaetae; mdcond, mandible condyle; mxp, maxillary palps; oc, ocelli; occ, occipital carina; pd, pedicel; prvmdpr, posteroventral mandible process; sc, scape. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A, B); 0.1 mm (C); 0.02 mm (D).

Figure 14. Holotype of † Camelosphecia fossor sp. nov. A profile of left side of body B profile of right side of body C dorsal view of mesosoma D delimited area of C under fluorescent light E details of the legs, especially the forelegs. Abbreviations: A 2 - A 3; abdominal segments 2 and 3; aprntr, anterior pronotal rim; ca, calcar; mscx, mesocoxa; msfm, mesofemur; msnt, mesonotum; mspl, mesopleural region of mesopectus; mssctm, mesoscutum; mssctl, mesoscutellum; mtcx, metacoxa; mtfm, metafemur; mtpl, metapleural region of metapectus; plant, plantulae; pr, prora; prcx, procoxa; pretc, pretarsal claws; prfm, profemur; prnt, pronotum; prop, propodeum; proppj, propodeal projection; prots, protarsomeres I and II chaetae; prtbss, distal protibia stout chaeta; psctc, parascutal carina; sp, propodeal spiracle; strg, strigil. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 15. A-C † Camelosphecia spp. females examined by images. Specimens in A (BALBuTJ _ 36) and C (BALBuTJ _ 40) are likely conspecifics to † C. fossor. Specimen in B (BALBuTJ _ 38) is probably another species in the genus, not described in here (images by Phil Barden, used with permission) D, E are generalized schemes of † Camelosphecia habitus and forewing, respectively, as interpreted from all specimens examined. Metathoracic sclerites in A-C are indicated with green dots. In D, pedicel and flagellomeres are omitted for simplification. Abbreviations as in Figure 14, except for prstA 4, presternite of A 4; prpl, propleuron; tbsp, tibial spurs; stA 4, sternite of A 4; stng, sting. Wing venation abbreviations: C, costal vein; Sc, subcostal vein; R, radial vein; Rs, radial sector vein; M, medial vein; Cu, cubital vein, A, anal vein; +, indicates composite vein; f , indicates free abscissa index; 2 r-rs, second radiosectoral crossvein; 2 rs-m, second sectoriomedial crossvein; 1 m-cu, first mediocubital crossvein; 1 cu-a, first cubitoanal crossvein; R (bc), radial or " basal " cell; 1 + 2 R (smc 1), undifferentiated first and second distal radial cells or " first submarginal cell "; 3 R (mc 1), third distal radial or " first marginal " cell; 1 Rs (smc 2), first sectorial or " second submarginal " cell; 1 M (dc 1), first medial or " discal " cell; 1 Cu (sbc), first cubital or " subbasal " cell; 2 Cu (sdc 1), second cubital or " first subdiscal " cell.

Figure 16. † Camelosphecia venator sp. nov. holotype (NIGP 163574) A, D right and left profile view of body, respectively B, C right and left profile view of head, respectively E left mesosoma zooming. Abbreviations: ce, compound eye; cl, clypeus; md, mandible; mm, masticatory margins; oc, ocelli; occ, occipital carina; A 2 - A 3; abdominal segments 2 and 3; mscx, mesocoxa; mspl, mesopleural area of mesopectus; mssctm, mesoscutum; mtcx, metacoxa; mtpl, metapleural area of mesopectus; oms, oblique mesopleural sulcus; pr, prora; prcx, procoxa; prnt, pronotum; prop, propodeum. Note that indication of clypeus in C is exactly at its margin as seen in profile, which is concave, and should not be confused with convex right compound eye margin, also indicated. Clypeal concave shape is better evidenced in figure B. Also in C, mm indicated is from the right mandible, while mandible indicated is that of the left side. Scale bars: 1 mm (A, D); 0.2 mm (B, C, E).