Miniature Monsters

Myanmar, 99 million years ago. A grasshopper wasp (Aptenoperissus burmanicus) leaps onto an unsuspecting unicorn ant (Ceratomyrmex ellenbergeri) to insert her egg into its abdomen.

While most paleo fans seem to only care about Burmese amber because of the dinosaur tail trapped in amber, it is actually a treasure trove of smaller fauna. Hundreds of new arthropod species are discovered every year. One of the few insects that got some coverage is Ceratomyrmex ellenbergeri, an ant with trap jaws and a sensitive horn on its head. Another insect from Burmese amber is Aptenoperissus burmanicus, a wingless parasitoid wasp with grasshopper-like legs and without the typical wasp waist. We don't know what hosts this wasp would have parasitized, so I am just pairing it with Ceratomyrmex because that ant is well known enough.

The Aptenoperissus is based on the reconstruction on the Japanese NatureLand (which is the only available picture apart from photographs of the fossil in the amber itself).
www.geocities.co.jp/NatureLand…
The Ceratomyrmex is based on photographs of the fossils in amber and the reconstruction of its relative Haidomyrmex.
www.myrmecos.net/2012/09/26/a-…