Zigrasimeciinae

Zigrasimeciinae is a subfamily of ants, known from the Cretaceous period, originally named as the tribe Zigrasimeciini within the subfamily Sphecomyrminae by Borysenko, 2017,^[1] it was elevated to full subfamily in 2020. It contains three described genera.^[2] They are sometimes known as iron-maiden ants in reference to their densely spiked mouthparts, reminiscent of an iron maiden torture device, that were likely used to trap prey.^[3] Boltonimecia canadensis was described from Campanian Canadian amber out of Alberta, Canada, while the species of Protozigrasimecia and Zigrasimecia are both exclusively known from Cenomanian Burmese amber found in Myanmar.^[3]

Zigrasimeciinae Temporal range: Cenomanian–Campanian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Zigrasimecia hoelldobleri holotype worker
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	†Zigrasimeciinae Borysenko, 2017
Genera
See text

Genera and species

• Boltonimecia Borysenko, 2017?
  • B. canadensis (Wilson, 1985)
• Protozigrasimecia Cao et al., 2020
  • P. chauli Cao et al., 2020
• Zigrasimecia Barden & Grimaldi, 2013
  • Z. boudinoti Chaul, 2023^[4]
  • Z. caohuijiae Chaul, 2023^[4]
  • Z. chuyangsui Chaul, 2023^[4]
  • Z. ferox Perrichot, 2014
  • Z. goldingot Zhuang et al. 2021^[5]
  • Z. hoelldobleri Cao et al., 2020
  • Z. perrichoti Chaul, 2023^[4]
  • Z. thate Chaul, 2023^[4]
  • Z. tonsora Barden & Grimaldi, 2013

Zigrasimeciinae species

• 
  Boltonimecia canadensis
• 
  Protozigrasimecia chauli
• 
  Zigrasimecia ferox
• 
  Zigrasimecia tonsora