Gesomyrmex, the Amber Javelin Ants Ecology Guide

Gesomyrmex is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. The genus contains seven extant species, and eleven fossil species, about which little is known, since the few species within the genus are rarely encountered. The genus was established by G. Mayr (1868) for a single species from Baltic amber.

Members of this genus are very rare and ancient forms as they belong to a loose assemblage of genera which have been considered the most primitive members of the subfamily Formicinae.

These genera, which include Myrmoteras, Gesomyrmex, Gigantiops, Myrmecorhynchus, Opisthopsis and Santschiella, remain among the least studied ants.