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Issue: Vol. 9 No. 2: 29 Apr. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-04-29
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.9.2.9
Page range: 173-181
Abstract views: 86
PDF downloaded: 5

Earliest occurrence of the family Megaspilidae (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea): A new genus in Early Cretaceous amber from Lebanon

Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), CSIC, Valencia 46004, Spain
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China, Lebanese University, Faculty of Science II, Natural Sciences Department, Fanar - El-Matn, P.O. Box 90656 Jdeidet, Lebanon
Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, New York 10024, U.S.A., Peretti Museum Foundation, Meggen, Switzerland
Hymenoptera Ceraphronoidea fossil wasps Barremian taxonomy palaeodiversity parasitoidism

Abstract

The oldest representative of the ceraphronoid family Megaspilidae is described and illustrated based on a well-preserved female from Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber. Alphaspilus heliades gen. et sp. nov. shows the characteristic anatomical features of the family and, despite superficial similarity, clearly differs from the genera Megaspilus Westwood and Conostigmus Dahlbom. This discovery proves that both stem and crown ceraphronoid groups coexisted in Early Cretaceous forest ecosystems. An updated checklist of all known fossil Megaspilidae species is provided.

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