ABSTRACT
Three new species of ensign wasps (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae), Evaniella setifera sp. nov., Evaniella dominicana sp. nov., and Semaeomyia hispaniola sp. nov. are described from Dominican amber and Hyptia mexicana sp. nov. is described from Mexican amber. Diagnostic characters are presented and a key to the species of Evaniidae from New World Tertiary amber is provided. These descriptions show new and possibly unique morphological features of ensign wasps that existed during the Tertiary. The location of possible hosts of Evaniella setifera is suggested based on three alate termites (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in the same piece of Dominican amber.
KEYWORDS: Evaniidae, ensign wasp, Dominican amber, Mexican amber, Tertiary
Left lateral view of Evaniella dominicana sp. nov. in Dominican amber. Scale bar = 1.6 mm. |
Order: Hymenoptera Linnaeus, 1758
Suborder: Apocrita Gerstaecker, 1867
Superfamily: Evanioidea Latreille, 1802
Family: Evaniidae Latreille, 1892
Genus: Evaniella Bradley, 1905
Evaniella setifera sp. nov.
Type locality. Amber mine in the northern portion of the Dominican Republic.
Etymology. The species epithet is from the Latin ‘setosus’ = bristly, in reference to the dense coating of microtrichia on the fore wing membrane.
Evaniella dominicana sp. nov.
Type locality. La Búcara amber mine in the northern portion of the Dominican Republic.
Etymology. The species epithet refers to the locality of the fossil.
Genus Semaeomyia Bradley, 1908
Semaeomyia hispaniola sp. nov.
Type locality. La Búcara amber mine in the northern portion of the Dominican Republic.
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the fossil locality.
Right lateral view of Hyptia mexicana sp. nov. in Mexican amber. Scale bar = 0.9 mm. |
Genus Hyptia Illiger, 1807
Hyptia mexicana sp. nov.
Type locality. Amber mine in the Simojoval area of Chiapas, Mexico.
Etymology. The specific epithet is based on the locality of the fossil.
George Poinar. 2020. Ensign wasps (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae) in Dominican and Mexican Amber. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2020.1818075
Salute the venerable ensign wasp, killing cockroaches for 25 million years