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Sphecomyrminae is an extinct subfamily of in family Formicidae known from a series of Cretaceous fossils found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Sphecomyrminae contains eight genera, divided into two tribes Sphecomyrmini and Zigrasimeciini. The tribe Sphecomyrmini contains the six genera Armania, Cretomyrma, Gerontoformica, Orapia, Pseudarmania and Sphecomyrma; while Zigrasimeciini contains Boltonimecia and Zigrasimecia. A number of taxa have been removed from the subfamily and placed either in other subfamilies or are now treated as incertae sedis in Formicidae.
Sphecomyrminae is the most basal of the Formicidae subfamilies, but has not been included in several phylogenetic studies of the family. symplesiomorphy of the subfamily include the structure of the antenna, which has a short basal segment and a flexible group of segments below the antenna tip. The petiole is low and rounded, with an unrestricted gaster and the presence of a metapleural gland. The subfamily is characterized by three major Synapomorphy, the short pedicel, a second flagellar segment that is double the length of the other antenna segments, and the loss of the apical end of the CuA veins in the wings of adult males.
The genus Sphecomyrmodes was formerly placed into Sphecomyrmini; however, in 2016, it was made a synonym of the stem group genus Gerontoformica, which was considered incertae sedis in Formicidae at the time. The former tribe Zigrasimeciini is now considered to comprise the separate subfamily Zigrasimeciinae.
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