Eocene Baltic, Bitterfeld and Rovno amber deposits of northern and eastern Europe
Fine-art photographic collection
Pachycondyla succinea
An ant sealed in tree resin roughly forty million years ago, with a modern genus name that may no longer fit.
About this species
Pachycondyla succinea(Mayr, 1868)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Pachycondyla succinea is an extinct ponerine ant known from European amber of Eocene age. Historical specimens include queens and males, but its generic placement is uncertain because the fossils need modern re-examination.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Pachycondyla
Extinct Eocene ant; its placement in Pachycondyla has been questioned and requires renewed study. · checked 2026-07-15
Eocene Baltic, Bitterfeld and Rovno amber deposits of northern and eastern EuropeMajor amber regions yielding the fossil species — not modern distribution.
Eocene resin-producing forests represented by Baltic, Bitterfeld and Rovno amber.
Extinct; known only from fossil inclusions.
Social ant inferred from caste fossils, including queens and males.
What makes this species remarkable?
Workers, queens and males were trapped in resin tens of millions of years ago, preserving an ant community from Europe’s Eocene forests.
The original description relied on three fossil queens that are now presumed lost, making later amber material crucial for interpreting the species.
A modern revision judged its placement in Pachycondyla “undoubtedly incorrect”, yet the fossils could not be re-examined well enough to assign a new genus.