Fossils of Ypresiomyrma were first studied and described by Bruce Archibald, Stefan Cover and Corrie Moreau of the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

[2] The genus name is a combination of Ypresian, referring to the age of the specimens and the Greek myrmex, meaning "ant".

However, a 2008 paper by Cesare Baroni Urbani of the University of Basel, Switzerland, expressed doubt that members of Ypresiomyrma were even ants.

Baroni Urbani further notes that the antennae's shape on the type species could not be properly determined, making its true placement within Formicidae indeterminable.

However, the antennae of Y. rebekkae has an elongated scape which means the fossil is definitely an ant, as this feature is a key diagnostic trait for Formicidae.

Due to this, Baroni Urbani believed that Ypresiomyrma could only be confidently classified as incertae sedis within the family Formicidae.

[7][8] A subsequent report by Russian palaeoentomologist Gennady M. Dlussky describing new myrmecines accepted the classification of Archibald and colleagues without mentioning the comments of Baroni Urbani.

[9] The following cladogram generated by Archibald and colleagues show the possible phylogenetic position of Ypresiomyrma among some ants of the subfamily Myrmeciinae.

The genus may be closely related to other extinct Myrmeciinae genera, including Avitomyrmex and Macabeemyrma, and the extant Nothomyrmecia macrops.

[3] Archibald, Cover, and Moreau coined the specific epithet from the Latin "orbiculatus", meaning "rounded" or "circular", in reference to the shape of the head.

[12] Some portions of the gaster are deformed and the specimen appears to be crushed, but the overall morphology of this species justifies its placement within Myrmeciinae.

[11] An undescribed worker in the form genus Myrmeciites may possibly be a Y. bartletti ant, but this cannot be confirmed due to its poor preservation.

[13] This species is known from over 100 specimens collected from the earliest Ypresian Ølst and Fur Formations, found in calcareous rocks.

[17] At that time, Rust and Andersen placed the species into the modern ponerin genus Pachycondyla based on the shape of the abdominal segment VI and lack of dentition on the mandibles.

[6] Dlussky, Rasnitsyn, and Perfilieva coined the specific epithet from the Latin "orientalis", meaning "eastern", in reference to the type locality.

[19] The abundance of Ypresiomyrma queens collected suggests that these ants mated in swarms, but the alates were poor flyers due to their large size.

The morphology of the mandibles indicate they were specialised tools for excavating chambers in soil or wood during colony foundation; their large size and common occurrence in their geographical range would mean they were an important food source to a variety of birds and Paleogene animals that predominately fed on insects.