Largest ant species ever

The largest species of fossil ant is the aptly named Titanomyrma giganteum ("gigantic titan ant"). Queens of this species measured 6 cm long, with a wingspan of 15 cm. A stingless species, it was discovered in the Messel shales of Germany, and dates back 49.5 million years (to the Eocene epoch). A second, smaller species, T. simillima, has also been found in the Messel shales. The most recent species of the genus Titanomyrma to be discovered is T. lubei, which was formally described in 2011. It is known from a winged queen specimen the size of a hummingbird that was found in Wyoming, the first representative of this genus to be discovered in the western hemisphere.