Earliest occurrence of Embiidae: A new genus from earliest Eocene Oise amber (Insecta: Embiodea)

Abstract

A new genus and species of webspinner, Galloembia raholai n. gen. et n. sp., is described from the earliest Eocene Oise amber of France. The species is currently the oldest record of the family, a taxon previously known from only as far back as the middle Eocene Baltic amber and an exceptionally dubious Eocene-Oligocene impression fossil of the central United States. The genus is diagnosed and compared with other genera of Embiidae.