# Retalimyrma
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{{Short description|Genus of ant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Retalimyrma wroughtonii casent0884103 profile 1.jpg
| image_caption = A worker specimen from AntWeb
| genus = Retalimyrma
| species = wroughtonii
| authority = (Forel, 1893)[{{cite web |last1=Bolton |first1=Barry |title=''Retalimyrma'' Ward et al. 2025 |url=https://antcat.org/catalog/514249 |website=AntCat |publisher=antcat.org |access-date=15 November 2025 |ref=antcat1}}]
|display_parents = 3
}}
'''''Retalimyrma''''' is a [monotypic](/source/monotypic) [genus](/source/genus) of [ant](/source/ant)s in the subfamily [Formicinae](/source/Formicinae), consisting of the sole species '''''Retalimyrma wroughtonii''''', native to the [Himalayas](/source/Himalayas) of [Nepal](/source/Nepal) and [India](/source/India). ''R. wroughtonii'' was previously placed in the genus ''[Camponotus](/source/Camponotus)'' as ''Camponotus wroughtonii'', although it was separated in 2025 into its own genus based on [ultraconserved element](/source/ultraconserved_element) phylogenomic analysis. Its scientific name means "remnant ant" from [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) ''retáli'' (ῥετάλι, "remnant") + ''myrma'' (μύρμα, "ant").[{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Philip S. |last2=Fisher |first2=Brian L. |last3=Wernegreen |first3=Jennifer J. |last4=Blaimer |first4=Bonnie B. |title=Evolutionary history, novel lineages and symbiont coevolution in the ant tribe Camponotini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) |journal=Systematic Entomology |volume=50 |issue=3 |date=2025 |issn=0307-6970 |doi=10.1111/syen.12678 |doi-access=free |pages=646–676 |bibcode=2025SysEn..50..646W }}]
==Taxonomy==
The species was originally described as ''Camponotus (Camponotus) Wroughtonii'' by [Auguste Forel](/source/Auguste_Forel) in 1893, based on syntype workers and males collected by Smythies in the Himalayas at 9,000 feet.[{{cite web |title=Robert Charles Wroughton |url=https://www.currentconservation.org/robert-charles-wroughton-1849-1921-2/ |website=Current Conservation |date=26 December 2021 |access-date=30 January 2026}}]
Phylogenomic analysis using ultraconserved elements by Ward et al. (2025) revealed that ''Camponotus wroughtonii'' could not be placed in any existing genus and represented an isolated lineage within the tribe [Camponotini](/source/Camponotini). Along with two other novel genera, ''[Lathidris](/source/Lathidris)'' from Mesoamerica and ''[Uwari](/source/Uwari)'' from eastern Asia, it was erected as a new monotypic genus.[{{cite journal |last1=Wernegreen |first1=Jennifer J. |last2=Kauppinen |first2=Seth N. |last3=Brady |first3=Sean G. |last4=Ward |first4=Philip S. |title=One nutritional symbiosis begat another: Phylogenetic evidence that the ant tribe Camponotini acquired Blochmannia by tending sap-feeding insects |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=9 |pages=292 |date=2009 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-9-292 |pmid=20015388 |pmc=2805616 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009BMCEE...9..292W }}]
A nest of ''R. wroughtonii'' was found in Nepal at 2,550 metres elevation in open [pine](/source/pine)–[cypress](/source/cypress) forest (''[Pinus excelsa](/source/Pinus_wallichiana)'', ''[Cupressus torulosa](/source/Cupressus_torulosa)'') on the west side of the [Kali Gandaki](/source/Kali_Gandaki) River. The nest, located under several adjacent small stones, contained workers, larvae, and cocoons; no queen or major workers were found.[{{cite journal |last1=Collingwood |first1=C. A. |title=Formicidae (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) from Nepal |journal=Khumbu Himal |volume=3 |pages=371–387 |date=1970}}][{{cite journal |last1=Subedi |first1=I. P. |last2=Budha |first2=P. B. |last3=Bharti |first3=H. |last4=Alonso |first4=L. E. |title=Updated checklist of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Nepal |journal=ZooKeys |issue=1006 |pages=99–136 |date=2020 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.1006.58808 |pmid=33390746 |pmc=7729251 |doi-access=free}}] A historical literature record from Upper Burma (the [Shan States](/source/Shan_State) at 4,000 feet) reported by Bingham (1903) requires verification.