At https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/new-cretaceous-fos… … ants go back a long way – but they were not always social insects (although small groups of ants are known in fossilised settings). Modern forms of ants are successful as they all work for the common good – or that of the queen ant. In the early stages ants were often solitary predators and here we have another example (or seemingly so). Dr Wang Bo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been looking at an ant preserved in amber from Burma going back 99 million years ago …
… the fossil preserves an aptitude for the carrying of large prey to the exclusion of smaller prey. What it specialised in hunting down and killing and then bringing back to the ants nest is unknown for the moment, but the structure of the long antennae and lifting gear is certainly impressive.