Corresponding author: Vincent Perrichot (
Academic editor: Jes Rust
A new species of the scelionine genus
Perrichot V, Antoine P-O, Salas-Gismondi R, Flynn JJ, Engel MS (2014) The genus
The platygastroid wasps represent one of the underexplored territories of microhymenopteran diversity. With over 4000 described species and many more awaiting description, these frequently minute parasitoids may be found in virtually all habitats throughout the world and although many fine revisions have been forthcoming, the total number of species will still climb significantly in the coming years. In tandem with this systematic work, biological studies are needed, particularly as platygastroids are important egg and larva parasitoids for a wide diversity of insect and spider hosts, and may serve important roles in natural and agricultural ecosystems, acting as effective biological control agents in the latter. The lineage was particularly abundant during the Mesozoic, as they often represent the most numerous of hymenopteran inclusions in many of the world’s Cretaceous amber deposits (e.g.,
Formal New World Tertiary records of platygastroid wasps have been confined to the Early Miocene amber-bearing strata of Mexico (
The study is based upon a single specimen preserved in amber from the Pebas Formation (Mollusc Zone MZ7, late Middle Miocene, ~12 Ma;
The wasp specimen studied herein was originally preserved in a rather large (ca. 45 × 30 × 20 mm) piece of translucent yellow amber with seven syninclusions (two mites, one spider, one gall midge, two nymphal barklice, and the head of an ant). The piece was cut in eight smaller fragments each of which were polished to optimize the view of the different inclusions, and the scelionine wasp is now preserved in a small piece (12 × 5 × 3 mm) with one barklouse (
Holotype MUSM-A-2006-4a, female, in amber fragment from the Pebas Formation (Mollusc Zone MZ7, late Middle Miocene, ~12 Ma;
The new species can be characterized by the following combination of features: Antenna discolorous; flagellum with F1 elongate, nearly as long as F2+F3; clavus comprising six flagellomeres (F5–F10); face and vertex contiguously punctured; mesoscutum without median longitudinal carina, integument contiguously punctate; notauli not areolate or foveate; metapleuron and dorsal and ventral surfaces of metasoma largely rugulose punctate; metasoma elongate, integument largely rugulose punctate; tergum 4 (T4) laterally compressed and dorsally humped; integument largely dark brown to black, without areas of obviously yellowish or reddish maculation.
Head 0.55 mm long, 0.58 mm high, 0.74 mm wide, densely punctate, punctures large, appearing almost areolate, those of vertex contiguous, slightly smaller on face and gena (
Mesosoma 1.17 mm long, 0.65 mm wide. Pronotal dorsal surfaces lateral to mesoscutum with large areolate punctures arranged in two longitudinal rows, those closest to mesoscutum largest, anterior and lateral edges strongly carinate (
Metasoma elongate, 3.90 mm long, maximal width 0.50 mm, with narrow laterotergites; T2 about as long as T3; terga and sterna rugulose punctate, punctures arranged in loose rows, punctures separated by one puncture width, or more often less on S1–S3, punctures contiguous by S4 and onward; sterna without median longitudinal carina; T6 elongate, laterally compressed, dorsally humped, longitudinally striate (
The specific epithet is a patronym for the native ethnic group Yagua, long-settled in the Tamshiyacu area, Maynas, Loreto.
In
Although not the earliest fossil for this genus, the significance of the present individual rests in its demonstration of the occurrence of
We thank Patrice Baby (GET, Toulouse), Mouloud Benammi (IPHEP, Poitiers), Ysabel Calderón (PeruPetro, Lima), and Nicolas Espurt (CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence) for their participation in field work; André Nel (MNHN, Paris) for facilitating access to the material by VP; and Ryan McKellar and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful input. Support for the field study was provided by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS, program ECLIPSE) and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement. This is a contribution of the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum.