Abstract
Ichneumonid wasps, also known as Darwin wasps, are relatively rare in Cretaceous amber deposits, with only the highest diversity documented from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. In order to enhance our understanding of the past diversity of this group, we describe and illustrate a new species belonging to the genus Rasnichneumon Kopylov et al., 2021, named Rasnichneumon nevergo sp. nov. This newly discovered species is based on an exquisitely preserved specimen and can be readily distinguished from the congeners by its forewing, with 2-Rs slightly longer than 2+3-M. With the addition of this new species, the diversity of the genus Rasnichneumon now encompasses five species, and we anticipate the description of more species in the future.
References
- Broad, G.R., Shaw, M.R. & Fitton, M.G. (2018) Ichneumonid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): their classification and biology. Handbooks for the identification of British Insects, 7, 1–418. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781800625471.0000
- Cruickshank, R.D. & Ko, K. (2003) Geology of an amber locality in the Hukawng Valley, northern Myanmar. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 21, 441–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(02)00044-5
- Delclòs, X., Peñalver, E., Barrón, E., Peris, D., Grimaldi, D.A., Holz, M., Labandeira, C.C., Saupe, E.E., Scotese, C.R., Solórzano-Kraemer, M.M., Álvarez-Parra, S., Arillo, A., Azar, D., Cadena, E.A., Dal Corso, J., Kvaček, J., Monleón-Getino, A., Nel, A., Peyrot, D., Bueno-Cebollada, C.A. & Pérez-de la Fuente, R. (2023) Amber and the Cretaceous Resinous Interval. Earth-Science Reviews, 243, 104486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104486
- Khalaim, A.I. (2004) A new species of the genus Phradis Förster with 10-11-segmented antenna from the Ukraine (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Tersilochinae). Zoosystematica Rossica, 12, 243–244.
- Kopylov, D.S. (2009) A new subfamily of Ichneumonids from the Lower Cretaceous of Transbaikalia and Mongolia (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Paleontological Journal, 43, 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0031030109010092
- Kopylov, D.S. (2010) A new subfamily of ichneumon wasps (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Russian Far East. Paleontological Journal, 44, 422–433. https://doi.org/10.1134/S003103011004009X
- Kopylov, D.S. (2011) Ichneumon wasps of the Khasurty locality in Transbaikalia (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). Paleontological Journal, 45, 406–413. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030111040058
- Kopylov, D.S., Brothers, D.J. & Rasnitsyn, A.P. (2010) Two new labenopimpline ichneumonids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern Africa. African Invertebrates, 51, 423–430. https://doi.org/10.5733/afin.051.0211
- Kopylov, D.S. & Jouault, C. (2024) Two new species of Rasnichneumon (Ichneumonidae: Novichneumoninae) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. Palaeoentomology, 7 (4), 554–565. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.4.14
- Kopylov, D.S., Zhang, Q. & Zhang, H.C. (2021) The Darwin wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) of Burmese amber. Palaeoentomology, 4 (6), 592–603. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.4.6.8
- Li, L.F., Kopylov, D.S., Shih, C.K. & Ren, D. (2017) The first record of Ichneumonidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) from the Upper Cretaceous of Myanmar. Cretaceous Research, 70, 152–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2016.11.001
- Li, L.F., Shih, P.J.M., Kopylov, D.S., Li, D.Q. & Ren, D. (2019) Geometric morphometric analysis of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera: Apocrita) with two new Mesozoic taxa from Myanmar and China. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 18, 931–943. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2019.1697903
- McKellar, R.C., Kopylov, D.S. & Engel, M.S. (2013) Ichneumonidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in Canadian Late Cretaceous amber. Fossil Record, 16, 217–227. https://doi.org/10.1002/mmng.201300011
- Perrichot, V., Néraudeau, D., Nel, A. & de Ploëg, G. (2007) A reassessment of the Cretaceous amber deposits from France and their palaeontological significance. African Invertebrates, 48 (1), 213–227.
- Rasnitsyn, A.P. (1980) Proiskhozhdenie i evolyutsiya pereponchatokrylykh nasekomykh [The origin and evolution of Hymenoptera]. Nauka, Moscow, 192 pp. [In Russian]
- Shi, G.H., Grimaldi, D.A., Harlow, G.E., Wang, J., Yang, M.C., Lei, W.Y., Li, Q.L. & Li, X.H. (2012) Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U-Pb dating of zircons. Cretaceous Research, 37, 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2012.03.014
- Townes, H.K. (1973) Three tryphonine ichneumonids from Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 75, 282–287.
- Viertler, A., Klopfstein, S., Jouault, C. & Spasojevic, T. (2022) Darwin wasps (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) in Lower Eocene amber from the Paris Basin. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 89, 19–45. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.89.80163
- Yang, J.T., Jouault, C., Li, L.F., Shih, C.K. & Ren D. (2024) A new genus of Praeaulacidae (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber: insights into a putative new Praeaulacinae subclade. Insects, 15, 351. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15050351
- Yu, T.T., Thomson, U., Mu, L., Ross, A., Kennedy, J., Broly, P., Xia, F.Y., Zhang, H.C., Wang, B. & Dilcher, D. (2019) An ammonite trapped in Burmese amber. Proceedings of the United States National Academy of Sciences, 116, 11345–11350. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821292116