A new epyrine wasp (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) from the late Eocene of Europe
Abstract
The aculeate family Bethylidae is represented in Baltic amber by about 40 species. We here describe and figure a new species in the subfamily Epyrinae from this late Eocene deposit: †Gracilepyris carsteni sp. nov., based on a complete male specimen. This is the first fossil species of Gracilepyris Colombo, Tribull & Azevedo, 2022, a recently discovered genus, comprising five extant species from the northern Neotropical, Nearctic, and Palaearctic regions. Gracilepyris is characteristic of the Epyris complex, a group of genera possessing individualized foveae at the mesoscuto-mesoscutellar suture. The finding of †Gracilepyris carsteni sp. nov. in Baltic amber is consistent with the estimated Late Cretaceous–Paleogene radiation of this derived group. Finally, we revive the name Risepyris dubius (Kieffer, 1904) for an extant European bethylid species which was unnecessarily renamed Holepyris neodubius Azevedo, 2018; we also propose the new name †Risepyris bruesi Brazidec nom. nov. for the Eocene fossil †Risepyris dubius (Brues, 1933), which was objectively invalid as a junior homonym.
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