Brownimecia
| Brownimecia Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Brownimecia clavata holotype | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | †Brownimeciinae Bolton, 2003 |
| Tribe: | †Brownimeciini Bolton, 2003 |
| Genus: | †Brownimecia Grimaldi, Agosti & Carpenter, 1997 |
| Type species | |
| Brownimecia clavata Grimaldi et al., 1997 | |
| Species | |
| |
Brownimecia is an extinct genus of ants, the only genus in the tribe Brownimeciini and subfamily Brownimeciinae of the Formicidae. Fossils of the identified species, Brownimecia clavata and Brownimecia inconspicua, are known from the Middle Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous of North America. The genus is one of several ants described from Middle Cretaceous ambers of New Jersey. Brownimecia was initially placed in the subfamily Ponerinae, until it was transferred to its own subfamily in 2003; it can be distinguished from other ants due to its unusual sickle-like mandibles and other morphological features that makes this ant unique among the Formicidae. B. clavata is also small, measuring 3.43 millimetres (0.135 in), and a stinger is present in almost all of the specimens collected. The morphology of the mandibles suggest a high level of feeding specialization.