A new genus and species of Pristocerinae (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from upper Eocene Baltic amber with a review of conspecific association from insect fossils

Abstract

A new extinct genus and species of Pristocerinae, †Archeonesia eocena Tribull, Pankowski & Colombo, gen. et. sp. nov., are described from upper Eocene Baltic amber from the Yantarny amber mine in the Kaliningrad region, Russia. Descriptions, remarks, illustrations, and comparisons to all extinct and extant Pristocerinae are provided. †Archeonesia is described as a new genus because neither the male nor the female can be placed in any previously described genera, although the female is most similar to Acrenesia and the male is most similar to Cleistepyris. Rare for Bethylidae, and Hymenoptera in general, this fossil contains both a male and female specimen that we are describing as conspecifics. A brief review from the paleoentomological literature is provided to describe how insect fossils containing evidence of reproductive behavior have been used to associate conspecifics in extinct species.

The first fossil Parascleroderma (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae): a new species in mid-Miocene Zhangpu amber

“…With more than 90 species in seven of the eight subfamilies (no fossil Mesitiinae has been described yet), the fossil record of Bethylidae spans nearly 130 million years from the Lower Cretaceous to the Holocene (see Martynova et al, 2019; and the posterior discoveries of: Engel, 2019;Falières and Nel, 2019a, 2019b, 2019cColombo et al, 2020Colombo et al, , 2021aColombo et al, , 2021bJouault et al, 2020Colombo and Azevedo, 2021;Jouault and Brazidec, 2021;Tribull et al, 2021). Despite this relatively high richness compared to other chrysidoid lineages (e.g., Chrysididae), lots of new species are likely to be described from Cretaceous or Cenozoic deposits, particularly from the recently discovered Miocene amber of Ethiopia and China (Bouju and Perrichot, 2020;Wang et al, 2021).…”

“…Despite this relatively high richness compared to other chrysidoid lineages (e.g., Chrysididae), lots of new species are likely to be described from Cretaceous or Cenozoic deposits, particularly from the recently discovered Miocene amber of Ethiopia and China (Bouju and Perrichot, 2020;Wang et al, 2021). Even from the long-surveyed deposits such as Baltic amber, new taxa may be recovered, as exemplified by the recent discovery of a new pristocerine genus (Tribull et al, 2021).…”