Eocene Green River Ant
Liometopum pingue (Scudder)
Green River Formation
Parachute Creek Member
Middle Eocene
Uintah County, Utah
Green River Formation
Parachute Creek Member
Middle Eocene
Uintah County, Utah
This is a very good specimen of the fossil ant Liometopum. The head, thorax and abdomen are all well preserved and legs are visible. The overall length of the ant is about 5 mm.
In 2002 Dlussky et. al. described fossil ants from a variety of US Eocene deposits including the Parachute Creek Member (Russian Entomological Journal V11 No. 4 pp 411-436). Without access to the type material it is very difficult to assign genus level identification to our specimen so we have reverted to the classic descriptions of Scudder 1890.
In 2002 Dlussky et. al. described fossil ants from a variety of US Eocene deposits including the Parachute Creek Member (Russian Entomological Journal V11 No. 4 pp 411-436). Without access to the type material it is very difficult to assign genus level identification to our specimen so we have reverted to the classic descriptions of Scudder 1890.