Paleoecology of the ambers indicates the shore to mangrove type forests were of a subtropical to warm temperate climate, with occasional dry periods[3] The ambers are recovered from deposits exposed in quarries, road constructions, and beach exposures in the Charente-Maritime region of coastal France, notably at Archingeay.

[5] Burmese amber has been radiometrically dated using U-Pb isotopes, yielding an age of approximately 99 million years old, close to the boundary between the Aptian and Cenomanian.

[5] The amber is suggested to have formed in a tropical environment around 5° north latitude and the resin to have been produced by either an Araucariaceae or Cupressaceae species tree.

[6] A team of French researchers headed by André Nel and G. Perrault published the 2004 type description of the new genus and species in the journal Geologica Acta.

[2] In 2005 American paleoentomologists David Grimaldi and Michael Engel described a new Sphecomyrminae genus, Sphecomyrmodes based on a fossil found in Burmese amber.

The new genus and single species S. orientalis were separated from Gerontoformica based on the 2004 type description which interpreted the G. cretacica antennae as having an elongated scape.

[8] In a 2014 PLOS ONE paper Phillip Barden and David Grimaldi, a series of nine new Burmese amber species were described and placed into Sphecomyrmodes: S. contegus, S. gracilis, S. magnus, S. pilosus, S. rubustus, S. rugosus, S. spiralis, S. subcuspis, and S. tendir.

All the species were based on fossils in the private collection of James Zigras and loaned to the American Museum of Natural History for paleoentomologists to study.

[5] Barden and Grimaldi published a revision of Gerontoformica based on re-examination of the G. cretacica holotype, and identified Sphecomyrmodes as a junior synonym.

[1] Several Burmese amber specimens were described in the 2016 Barden and Grimaldi paper that preserve groups of Gerontoformica workers in association.

Specimen JZC Bu1814 contains a group of six G. spiralis worker caste adults in association with scolebythid wasp, a snail, the wings of two Parapolycentropus species mecopterans and a scydmaenid beetle.

The blattodean is central to four of the ants, three G. spriralis and the H. zigrasi worker, suggesting the roach may have been either a potential food source, or one being actively foraged on.

The presence of sand and humus particles along with several entombed immature arthropods in the flows indicates the resin pooled on or near the forest floor.

In total there are over twenty other arthropods and twenty-one ants preserved with the highest Gerontoformica diversity of the described amber specimens.

At least three different species are present in the amber, G. contegus, G. orientalis, and G. robustus, and the workers are in three distinct groups in the layers.

The larger G. spiralis worker is in turn in gripping the right fore leg protarsus between its left mandible and clypeus comb.

While fighting between colonies and between different ant species is common, it is a behavior that is rare to non-existent in solitary aculeates hymenopterans.

[1] Gerontoformica is characterized by a row of peg like projections along the front edge of the clypeus, a feature not seen on other Cretaceous ant genera.

The species name is a derivative of the Latin contago meaning "conceal or protect", in reference to the scrobes present on both the holotype and paratype.

[5] Described from a single worker fossil in Chartense amber, the species has an estimated body length of 5.4 mm (0.21 in), though shrinking of the ant after entombment made accurate measurements difficult.

[1][5] The three described G. magnus workers range between 8.03–8.64 mm (0.316–0.340 in) long, with a generally teardrop shaped head capsulea and petioles that attach broadly to the mesosoma.

The lower front margin of the clypeus has a pointed projection on each side, and is smaller than other species, having a reduced look to it and being slightly covered in places.

[8] In the type description Perrichot and team noted that the name "occidentalis", meaning western, was chosen as a contrast to the first species of "Sphecomyrmodes", S.

The species is noted for having the largest size variation between individual workers, with the body lengths of the three type specimens raging between 4.07–5.70 mm (0.160–0.224 in).

There are rounded rectangular carinae surrounding each of the oval eyes, and the ocelli are placed equidistantly from each other on the flat area of the head.

The compound eyes are smaller than seen in the other species, with an elongated outline, and placed closer to the articulation point with the body than to the clypeus.

The distinct projection is the inspiration for the species name subcuspis, which is a combination of the Latin prefix "sub-" for underside and "cuspis" meaning point.

[5] Due to darkening of the cuticle in the holotype fossil, finer details such as ocelli location and suture structuring were undetectable.

The head has an elongated structure, being consistently taller than it is wide and the small compound eyes are placed near the midpoint between the clypeus and the rear edge.

In both the G. tendir workers the middle of the clypeus is developed with a frontal lobe, and about twenty denticles are present on the front edge.