Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5562 No. 1: 31 Dec. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-12-31
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5562.1.8
Page range: 45-55
Abstract views: 166
PDF downloaded: 66

The oldest false fairy wasp (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae) from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
Palaeontological Institute; Russian Academy of Sciences; Moscow 117647; Russia; Natural History Museum; London SW7 5BD; UK
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
Hymenoptera Bipetiolarida Mymarommatoidea Archaeromma Lebanon Barremian palaeobiogeography

Abstract

Mymarommatidae (Hymenoptera), also known as false fairy wasps, are mainly characterised by their minute size, the peculiar wings, and the bi-segmented petiole. They form part of the superfamily Mymarommatoidea together with the Cretaceous families †Alavarommatidae, †Dipterommatidae, and †Gallorommatidae. The clade Bipetiolarida embraces Mymarommatoidea and †Serphitoidea, the two proctotrupomorphan superfamilies whose members have bi-segmented petiole. The biology of the mymarommatids is poorly known and only one extant species is known to be an egg endoparasitoid of barklice (Psocodea). Here, we describe a new species of mymarommatid wasp, Archaeromma phoenicium sp. nov., from Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) amber of Lebanon. We compare it with the other species of the genus and discuss the validity of some characters for generic identification. This new species is the oldest representative of the genus Archaeromma Yoshimoto, 1975 and of the family Mymarommatidae. A checklist and a key to the species of Archaeromma is included. Furthermore, we discuss the palaeobiogeography of the Cretaceous mymarommatoids. The description of the new species increases the list of insect co-occurrences between Lebanese and Spanish ambers to 21 genera.

 

References

  1. Aiba, H. & Inosa, H. (2024) A new false fairy wasp (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatoidea: Mymarommatidae) in Late Cretaceous Iwaki amber from Futaba Group of Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Paleontological Research, 28 (3), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.2517/PR230020
  2. Álvarez-Parra, S. & Azar, D. (2024) The wasps (Hymenoptera) from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese and Spanish ambers. Fossil Studies, 2 (2), 110–122. https://doi.org/10.3390/fossils2020005
  3. Álvarez-Parra, S., Peñalver, E., Nel, A. & Delclòs, X. (2023) Barklice (Insecta: Psocodea) from Early Cretaceous resiniferous forests of Iberia (Spanish amber): new Troctomorpha and a possible Psocomorpha. Cretaceous Research, 148, 105544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105544
  4. Blaimer, B.B., Santos, B.F., Cruaud, A., Gates, M.W., Kula, R.R., Mikó, I., Rasplus, J.-Y., Smith, D.R., Talamas, E.J., Brady, S.G. & Buffington, M.L. (2023) Key innovations and the diversification of Hymenoptera. Nature Communications, 14, 1212. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36868-4
  5. Brues, C.T. (1937) Superfamilies Ichneumonoidea, Serphoidea, and Chalcidoidea. In: Carpenter, F.M., Folsom, J.W., Essig, E.O., Kinsey, A.C., Brues, C.T., Boesel, M.W. & Ewing, H.E. (Eds), Insects and arachnids from Canadian amber. University of Toronto Studies, Geological Series, pp. 7–62.
  6. Cockx, P., McKellar, R., Tappert, R., Vavrek, M. & Muehlenbachs, K. (2020) Bonebed amber as a new source of paleontological data: The case of the Pipestone Creek deposit (Upper Cretaceous), Alberta, Canada. Gondwana Research, 81, 378–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2019.12.005
  7. Davranoglou, L.R., Pérez‐de la Fuente, R., Baňař, P. & Peñalver, E. (2024) The first unique‐headed bug (Hemiptera, Enicocephalomorpha) from Cretaceous Iberian amber, and the Gondwanan connections of its palaeoentomological fauna. Papers in Palaeontology, 10 (2), e1550. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1550
  8. Debauche, H.R. (1948) Étude sur les Mymarommidae et le Mymaridae de la Belgique (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea). Mémoires du Musée Royal d’Histoire Naturelle de Belgique, 108, 1–248.
  9. 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., Gallardo, A., González-Fernández, B., Goula, M., Jaramillo, C., Kania-Kłosok, I., López-Del Valle, R., Lozano, R.P., Meléndez, N., Menor-Salván, C., Peña-Kairath, C., Perrichot, V., Rodrigo, A., Sánchez-García, A., Santer, M., Sarto i Monteys, V., Uhl, D., Viejo, J.L. & 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
  10. Engel, M.S. (2015) A new family of primitive serphitoid wasps in Lebanese amber (Hymenoptera: Serphitoidea). Novitates Paleoentomologicae, 13, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.17161/np.v0i13.5064
  11. Engel, M.S. & Grimaldi, D.A. (2007) New false fairy wasps in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey and Myanmar (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatoidea). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 110, 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1660/0022-8443(2007)110[159:NFFWIC]2.0.CO;2
  12. Fursov, V., Shirota, Y., Nomiya, T. & Yamagishi, K. (2002) New fossil mymarommatid species, Palaeomymar japonicum sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae), discovered in Cretaceous amber from Japan. Entomological Science, 5, 51–54.
  13. Gibson, G.A., Heraty, J.M. & Woolley, J.B. (1999) Phylogenetics and classification of Chalcidoidea and Mymarommatoidea—a review of current concepts (Hymenoptera, Apocrita). Zoologica Scripta, 28 (1-2), 87–124. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1463-6409.1999.00016.x
  14. Gibson, G.A., Read, J. & Huber, J.T. (2007) Diversity, classification and higher relationships of Mymarommatoidea (Hymenoptera). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 16 (1), 51–146.
  15. Girault, A.A. (1920) New genera and species of chalcid-flies from Australia (Hymenoptera). Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus, 8, 37–50.
  16. Girault, A.A. (1931) A new habit in an old insect. Homo pudicus and new Eurytomidae. Privately published, Brisbane, 4 pp.
  17. Haliday, A.H. (1833) An essay on the classification of the parasitic Hymenoptera of Britain, which correspond with the Ichneumones minuti of Linnaeus. Entomological Magazine, 1 (3), 259–276.
  18. Honsberger, D.N., Huber, J.T. & Wright, M.G. (2022) A new Mymaromma sp. (Mymarommatoidea, Mymarommatidae) in Hawai‘i and first host record for the superfamily. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 89, 73–87. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.89.77931
  19. Kozlov, M.A. & Rasnitsyn, A.P. (1979) On the limits of the family Serphitidae (Hymenoptera, Proctotrupoidea). Entomologischeskoe Obozrenie, 58, 402–416. [in Russian].
  20. Maksoud, S. & Azar, D. (2020) Lebanese amber: Latest updates. Palaeoentomology, 3 (2), 125–155. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.3.2.2
  21. Maksoud, S., Azar, D., Granier, B. & Gèze, R. (2017) New data on the age of the Lower Cretaceous amber outcrops of Lebanon. Palaeoworld, 26 (2), 331–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2016.03.003
  22. Maksoud, S., Granier, B.R. & Azar, D. (2022) Palaeoentomological (fossil insects) outcrops in Lebanon. Carnets Geologie, 22, 699–743. https://doi.org/10.2110/carnets.2022.2216
  23. Martı́nez-Delclòs, X., Briggs, D.E. & Peñalver, E. (2004) Taphonomy of insects in carbonates and amber. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 203 (1-2), 19–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00643-6
  24. Meunier, F. (1901) Contribution à la faune des Mymaridae ou ‘atomes ailés’ de l’ambre. Annales de la Société Scientifique de Bruxelles, 25, 282–292.
  25. Ortega-Blanco, J., Peñalver, E., Delclòs, X. & Engel, M.S. (2011) False fairy wasps in early Cretaceous amber from Spain (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatoidea). Palaeontology, 54 (3), 511–523. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01049.x
  26. Peris, D., Ruzzier, E., Perrichot, V. & Delclòs, X. (2016) Evolutionary and paleobiological implications of Coleoptera (Insecta) from Tethyan-influenced Cretaceous ambers. Geoscience Frontiers, 7, 695–706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2015.12.007
  27. Rasnitsyn, A.P. & Öhm-Kühnle, C. (2020) Taxonomic revision of the infraorder Proctotrupomorpha (Hymenoptera). Palaeoentomology, 3 (3), 223–234. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.3.3.2
  28. Rasnitsyn, A.P., Sidorchuk, E.A., Zhang, H. & Zhang, Q. (2019) Dipterommatidae, a new family of parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatoidea) in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber: The first case of morphological diptery in flying Hymenoptera. Cretaceous Research, 104, 104193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104193
  29. Rasnitsyn, A.P., Maalouf, M., Maalouf, R. & Azar, D. (2022) New Serphitidae and Gallorommatidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Microprocta) in the Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber. Palaeoentomology, 5 (2), 120–136. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.2.4
  30. Scotese, C.R. (2001) Atlas of Earth history, volume 1, paleogeography. PALEOMAP Project, Arlington, Texas, 52 pp.
  31. Vilhelmsen, L. & Krogmann, L. (2006) Skeletal anatomy of the mesosoma of Palaeomymar anomalum (Blood & Kryger, 1922) (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 15, 290–306.
  32. Villemant, C., Álvarez-Parra, S. & Santos, B.F. (2023) Mymarommatidae, new family and superfamily of parasitoid wasps for Corsica (Hymenoptera, Mymarommatoidea). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France, 128 (4), 411–419. https://doi.org/10.32475/bsef_2295
  33. Yoshimoto, C.M. (1975) Cretaceous chalcidoid fossils from Canadian amber. Canadian Entomologist, 107, 499–528. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent107499-5