Editing Formiciinae

{{Short description|Extinct subfamily of ants}}
{{Distinguish|text=the extant Formicidae subfamily [[Formicinae]]}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Ypresian]] to [[Lutetian]], {{fossilrange|51.9|44.5|latest=40.4}}
| image = Titanomyrma lubei 02.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Titanomyrma]]'', with a [[rufous hummingbird]] for scale
| taxon = Formiciinae
| authority = [[Herbert Lutz|Lutz]], 1986
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = 
*''[[Formicium]]'' <small>Westwood, 1854</small>
*''[[Titanomyrma]]'' <small>Archibald ''et al.'', 2011</small>
| type_species = '''''Formicium berryi'''''
| type_species_authority = Westwood, 1854
}}

'''Formiciinae''' is an [[extinct]] subfamily of [[ant]]s known from [[Eocene]] deposits in [[Europe]] and [[North America]].<ref name="Archibald2011">{{cite journal |last1=Archibald| first1=S. Bruce |last2=Johnson |first2=Kirk R. |last3=Mathewes |first3=Rolf W. |last4=Greenwood |first4=David R. |year=2011 |title=Intercontinental dispersal of giant thermophilic ants across the Arctic during early Eocene hyperthermals |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society B]] |volume= 278|issue= 1725|pages= 3679–86|doi=10.1098/rspb.2011.0729 |pmid= 21543354|pmc=3203508}}</ref>

==Genera==
*'''Formiciinae''' <small>Lutz, 1986</small>
**'''Formiciini''' <small>Lutz, 1986</small>
***''[[Titanomyrma]]'' <small>Archibald, ''et al.'', 2011</small>
****''Titanomyrma gigantea'' <small>(Lutz, 1986)</small>
****''Titanomyrma lubei'' <small>Archibald, ''et al.'', 2011</small>
****''Titanomyrma simillima'' <small>(Lutz, 1986)</small>
***''[[Formicium]]'' <small>Westwood, 1854</small> (collective group genus)
****''Formicium berryi'' <small>(Carpenter, 1929)</small>
****''Formicium brodiei'' <small>Westwood, 1854</small>
****''Formicium mirabile'' <small>(Cockerell, 1920)</small>

The type [[genus]] is ''[[Formicium]]'' with the genus ''[[Titanomyrma]]'' being described in 2011.  ''Formicium'' includes the described [[species]] which are known from fossil wings only.  ''Formicium'' is known from three species.  ''Formicium mirabile'', named by [[Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell|Theodore D. A. Cockerell]] in 1920, and ''Formicium brodiei'', named by [[John Obadiah Westwood|John O. Westwood]] in 1854, are both known from [[Wing (insect)|fore wings]] found in the [[middle Eocene]] of [[Bournemouth]], [[Dorset, England]].<ref name="Archibald2011"/>  The third species named, ''Formicium berryi'' was named by [[Frank M. Carpenter]] in 1929 from the middle Eocene [[Claiborne Formation]] in [[Puryear, Tennessee]], USA, though he misidentified the formation as the [[Wilcox Formation]].  ''F. berryi'' was the first described occurrence of the genus and, until 2011, the subfamily, in North America.<ref name="Archibald2011"/>   With the description of ''Titanomyrma'', the two species already described from complete body specimens, ''Formicium giganteum'' and ''F. simillimum'',  were transferred to the new genus as ''Titanomyrma giganteum'' and ''T. simillimum'' respectively.  ''Titanomyrma'' also contains a third species, ''T. lubei'' described in the same paper as the genus and which is the second member of the subfamily known from North America.<ref name="Archibald2011"/>

==Size==
While workers belonging to the subfamily have not been found, queens and males for ''T. giganteum'' and ''T. simillimum'' are known and ''T. lubei'' is known from a single queen.  The average size for the queens and males in ''Titanomyrma'' is equal to that of some of the largest modern ants known. Only the queens of ''[[Dorylus wilverthi]]'' currently reach similar lengths, up to {{convert|52|mm|in}} as the smallest species of ''Titanomyrma'', ''T. lubei''.<ref name="Archibald2011"/>

Formiciinae members were restricted in habitat to living in regions which had a [[mesic habitat|mesic]] wet climate and an average mean annual temperature of {{convert|20|°C|°F}} or higher.  This is similar to the restricted ranges of the largest species of modern ants.<ref name="Archibald2011"/>  The spread of the subfamily from Europe to North America is postulated to have been across the [[North Atlantic]] landbridges which were present in the Eocene.  While the average temperatures for this route are thought to have been lower than the range needed for Formiciinae species, a series of warmer events throughout the Eocene are suggested as aides in the crossing.<ref name="Archibald2011"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{portal|Paleontology}}
*{{Commonscat-inline|Formiciinae}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline|Formiciinae}}

{{Formicidae subfamilies}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1932313}}

[[Category:Formiciinae| ]]
[[Category:Ant subfamilies|†Formiciinae]]
[[Category:Eocene insects]]
[[Category:Fossil ant taxa]]
[[Category:Eocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Eocene extinctions]]