Ctenobethylus is an extinct genus of ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae. The genus contains a single described species Ctenobethylus goepperti, where the fossil is known to be from the Baltic Amber.[1] The fossil contained a preserved mesostigmatid mite attached to the head of the ant, which is perhaps the oldest known evidence of ecological association between mites and ants.[2]

Ctenobethylus
Temporal range: Middle Eocene
Baltic amber
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Tribe: Tapinomini
Genus: Ctenobethylus
Brues, 1939
Species:
C. goepperti
Binomial name
Ctenobethylus goepperti
(Mayr, 1868)
Synonyms
  • Ctenobethylus succinalis Brues, 1939

References

edit
  1. ^ Bolton, Barry (June 1994). Identification Guide to the Ant Genera of the World (1st ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 26. ISBN 0674442806.
  2. ^ Dunlop, J. A.; Kontschan, J.; Walter, D. E.; Perrichot, V. (10 September 2014). "An ant-associated mesostigmatid mite in Baltic amber". Biology Letters. 10 (9): 20140531. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0531. PMC 4190962. PMID 25209198.