Phylogeny, evolution, and classification of the ant genus Lasius, the tribe Lasiini and the subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Author Boudinot, Brendon E. Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis CA, U. S. A. & Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für Spezielle Zoologie, Jena, Germany Author Borowiec, Marek L. Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis CA, U. S. A. & Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology and Nematology, University of Idaho, Moscow ID, U. S. A. & Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow ID, U. S. A. Author Prebus, Matthew M. Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis CA, U. S. A. & School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ, U. S. A. mprebus@gmail.com text Systematic Entomology 2022 2022-01-10 47 113 151 journal article 20773 10.1111/syen.12522 564eaad8-6245-4f42-9a88-42b97bf30807 5975346 016059BA-33C3-43B2-ADAD-6807DC5CB6D8 On the identity of † Protrechina Wilson : Wilson (1985) described a genus putatively close to Paratrechina sensu lato (∼ Prenolepis genus group) from mid-Eocene Claiborne amber (Arkansas, 40.4–37.2 Ma; Saunders et al. , 1974 ). This genus, † Protrechina , supposedly differs from Paratrechina s. l . , Lepisiota Santschi and Brachymyrmex Mayr – among other, unstated formicines – by the absence of standing macrosetae on the mesosomal dorsum, a state similar to that observed for Metalasius gen.nov. as noted below. The genus has been variably treated as a lasiine ( Bolton, 1994 , 1995 ; LaPolla & Dlussky, 2010 ), a ‘prenolepidine’ ( Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990 ), or as incertae sedis in the subfamily where it remains at present ( Wilson, 1985 ; Dlussky & Fedoseeva 1988 ; Bolton, 2003 ; Ward et al. , 2016 ). The type specimen of † Protrechina carpenteri Wilson , at the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard), should be reexamined to evaluate its tribal, and perhaps generic, placement. This would be particularly valuable given the approximately mid-Eocene origin of the Prenolepis genus group here inferred ( Fig. 4 ; Table 5); such a study will be facilitated by use of micro-CT (e.g., Hita-Garcia et al. , 2017 ; Barden et al. , 2017b ; Boudinot et al. , in press), given the poor condition of the specimen reported by LaPolla & Dlussky (2010) .