Skip to main content

Palaeorhoptrocentrus tenuicornis, Taphaeus obscurus and Eubazus electrus, braconid parasitoid wasps from late Eocene Baltic amber

Dlium Palaeorhoptrocentrus tenuicornis, Taphaeus obscurus and Eubazus electrus, braconid parasitoid wasps from late Eocene Baltic amber

NEWS - Slim antenna parasitoid wasp (Palaeorhoptrocentrus tenuicornis sp. nov. Doryctinae), dark color parasitoid wasp (Taphaeus obscurus Belokobylskij & Zaldívar-Riverón sp. nov. Brachistinae: Diospilini) and electron parasitoid wasp (Eubazus electrus Belokobylskij & Zaldívar-Riverón sp. nov. Brachistinae: Brachistini) are reported as new species.

Palaeorhoptrocentrus tenuicornis described based on a single female and named after “tenuis” (Latin for slender) and “cornis” (Latin for horn or projection) referring to its very slender antennae. Specimen from Primorskiy quarry, Yantarny, Kaliningrad Province, Russia. Baltic amber from the Late Eocene, Priabonian range.

This species is similar to the type species of the genus, Palaeorhoptrocentrus kanti Belokobylskij 2023, but the first antennal flagellar segment is slender (vs. broad in P. kanti), the second radiomedial cell of the forewing is submarginal, narrow (vs. rather broad), the interstitial nervulus, 1cu-a, (vs. postfurcal), the recurrent vein, m-cu, the hindwing interstitial (vs. antefurcal), the temples are smooth laterally (vs. sculpted), the sides of the pronotum and metapleuron are distinctly and broadly sculpted (vs. very smooth) and the precoxal sulcus is rugose-notched (vs. almost smooth).

Taphaeus obscurus described from a single female and the name is based on the Latin word “obscurus” meaning dark referring to the dark body color and the forewing infusion. Specimen from Primorskiy quarry, Yantarny, Kaliningrad Province, Russia. Baltic amber from the Late Eocene, Priabonian range.

This species is similar to Taphaeus praecox Brues 1923 from Baltic amber, but the head is less transverse, about 2.0 times wider than long in the middle (vs. wider transverse, about 3.0 times wider than long in the middle in T. praecox), the first flagellar segment is 2.2 times longer than the maximum width (vs. 4.0 times), the second to last antennal segment is almost as long as the maximum width (vs. 2.0 times longer) and the second tergite is 0.7 times longer than the first tergite (vs. almost the same).

Eubazus electrus described from a single female and the name is based on the Greek word “élektron” meaning amber, since the holotype specimen was found in Baltic amber. Specimen from Primorskiy quarry, Yantarny, Kaliningrad Province, Russia. Baltic amber from the Late Eocene, Priabonian range.

The new species differs from the three species of Eubazus from Baltic amber: Eubazus crassicornis (Brues, 1933), Eubazus gracilicornis (Brues, 1939) and Eubazus normalis (Brues, 1923) in having multisegmented antennae with 26 segments (vs. 17-19 segments).

E. electrus having fused forewings (vs. hyaline in E. crassicornis); thickened antennal flagella and weakly transverse penultimate segment (vs. slender and elongate penultimate segment in E. gracilicornis); scape short and wide, 1.5 times longer than wide, first flagellar segment 3.0 times longer than wide, and ovipositor almost as long as body (vs. scape 2.0 times longer than wide, first flagellar segment 4.0 times longer than wide and ovipositor as long as metasoma in E. normalis).

Original research

Sergey A. Belokobylskij, Madeline V. Pankowski & Alejandro Zaldívar-Riverón (2024). New species of braconid parasitoid wasps from the subfamilies Doryctinae and Brachistinae from late Eocene Baltic amber. Palaeoentomology 007 (5): 645–658, DOI:10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.5.8

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Lolot (Piper sarmentosum)

Lolot pepper ( Piper sarmentosum ) is a species of plant in Piperaceae, perennial herb, erect or lodging, creeping rhizome, up to 120 cm long, branched, enlarged branches, cylindrical stems, brown or green, often grooved, growing on the forest floor and shade. P. sarmentosum has leaf stalks up to 15 cm long, up to 13 cm wide, green, alternately arranged, heart-shaped, pointed tips and flat margins. The leaves have 5 main veins from the base of the blade, linear and slightly curved to the tip, glands on the upper surface and many fine pinnate veins. The upper side is shiny green, the lower side is pale green. The flowers are white. The fruit grows in the upper armpit of the leaf, is slightly oval and green. The leaves are used as a medicine for asthma, malaria, stomach ache, tinea versicolor, toothache, difficulty urinating, aches and pains, maintaining stamina, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and so on. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiosperma...
Read more

East Indian globe thistle (Sphaeranthus indicus)

Gorakhmundi or gorakh mundi or mundi buti ka phool or mundi booti ka phool or sembung delan or East Indian globe thistle ( Sphaeranthus indicus ) is a species of plant in Asteroideae, a perennial, multi-branched, strong fragrance with erect stems, winged and toothed wings, growing wild in rice fields forming colonies, dense open rugs in the tropics. S. indicus has alternating sitting leaves, oval, narrow at the base, toothed and serrated, 1-3 cm long and green. Leaves 2-7 cm long, 1-3 wide, broad and deep wings, continuing into a large bone in the center of the leaf to a sharp tip and several lateral veins. The flower is round, grows at the tip, has a large and long stalk, is purple in color, 8-15 mm in size, consists of many tiny flowers, green or red or purple and has pale purple stamens. Head ovate-ellipsoid and 12-15 mm long. Phyllaries are white and have purple crest. Female flowers have a corolla tube 2-2.5 mm long. The bisexual flowers are 2.3-3 mm long and the hardened pa...
Read more

Sausage tree (Kigelia africana)

Sausage Tree ( Kigelia africana ) is a species of tree in the Bignoniaceae family, growing up to 24 meters tall with low, spreading branches. The bark is dark gray to light brown, up to 6 mm thick, scaly, creamy white underside, and the branches are marked with lenticels. The wood is light brown or yellowish. This tree grows at elevations of 0-3000 meters. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stem and are divided into several pairs of minor leaflets and a single minor leaflet at the tip. Each leaflet is up to 50 cm long and has 3-6 pairs of opposite minor leaflets. The minor leaflets are oval to narrow and pointed, 7-20 cm long and 4-12 cm wide. The margins are smooth, sometimes slightly serrated. The upper side is glossy green, the underside pale green, smooth or finely hairy. The central vein is sunken on the upper side, with 7-12 pairs of prominent lateral veins visible below. The inflorescences hang from flexible branches up to 7.5 meters long. The flowers are bell-shap...
Read more