Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 2, 2026

Estevia

Estevia is a genus of fossil formicine ants containg two species known from Fushun amber. It was originally described in 2002 by Chinese paleoentomologist Youchong Hong as Wilsonia, an honorific of biologist E. O. Wilson, however entomologist Brian Fisher found that the name was a junior secondary homonym of the bird genus Wilsonia described in 1838 and designated Estevia as a replacement name in 2026 in honor of Brazilian myrmecologist Flávia Esteves.

Last revised
Jul 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
194 w
Citations
6
Source
Estevia
Temporal range: Fushun amber
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Clade: Doryloformicia
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: incertae sedis
Genus: Estevia
Fisher, 2025
Type species
Wilsonia megagastrosa
(Hong, 2002)
Diversity1
2 species

Estevia is a genus of fossil formicine ants containg two species known from Fushun amber. It was originally described in 2002 by Chinese paleoentomologist Youchong Hong (zh:洪友崇) as Wilsonia, an honorific of biologist E. O. Wilson,2 however entomologist Brian Fisher found that the name was a junior secondary homonym of the bird genus Wilsonia described in 1838 and designated Estevia as a replacement name in 2026 in honor of Brazilian myrmecologist Flávia Esteves.3

Species

As of 2026, the genus includes one species officially designated within the genus and one implied.123

  • Estevia liaoningensis (Hong, 2002)
  • Estevia megagastrosa (Hong, 2002)
References

References

  1. Bolton, B. (2026). "Estevia". AntCat. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  2. Hong, Youchong (August 2002). 中国琥珀昆虫志 (1 ed.). Beijing: Beijing Science and Technology Press. pp. x + 653. ISBN 9787530426227. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  3. Fisher, Brian L. (16 October 2025). "Replacement names for junior homonyms in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)". ZooKeys. 1256: 81–113. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1256.162607. PMC 12550506. PMID 41141414. Retrieved 13 February 2026.