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

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...
Read more

Pink poui (Tabebuia rosea)

Pink poui ( Tabebuia rosea ) is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae, a small neotropical tree, growing up to 30 meters tall and up to 100 cm in diameter. It has layered and irregular branches, with gray to brown bark and vertical fissures. The leaves are compound, finger-shaped, five-petaled, length up to 33 cm, width up to 15 cm and long stalk up to 9 cm. The flowers are large, bright red or purple or white, fan-shaped, up to 9 cm long, up to 8 cm wide. The fruit capsule is slender and up to 35 cm long. The fruit dries and dehisces, producing anemochorous seeds with hyaline membrane wings. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Genus: Tabebuia Gomes ex DC. in Biblioth. Universelle Genève, n.s., 17: 130 (1838) Species: Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC. in Prodr. 9: 215 (1845) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Couralia rosea (Bertol.) Donn.Sm. in Bot. Gaz. 20: 9 (1895) Sparattosperma roseum (Bertol.) Miers in Proc....
Read more

Hairy senna (Senna hirsuta)

Hairy senna ( Senna hirsuta ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is an upright shrub, growing up to 2.5 meters tall. The leaves are compound on petioles up to 13 cm long. They usually have 2-6 pairs of leaflets, are egg-shaped, and have white hairs, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow and arranged at the tips of branches and in the upper leaf axils in clusters of 2-5. The petals are 12-16 mm long, have 6 stamens, 3-8 mm long anthers, and 4 staminodes. Flowering occurs almost monthly. The pods are cylindrical, up to 15 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, and curved. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae Tribe: Cassieae Subtribe: Cassiinae Genus: Senna Mill. in Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4.: [s.p.] (1754) Species: Senna hirsuta (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby in Phytologia 44: 499 (1979) Variety: Senna hirsuta var. acuminata (Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby, Senna ...
Read more