The first occurrence of the genus Pristaulacus from the Late Miocene diatomitic maar of Sainte-Reine, Cantal, France (Hymenoptera, Aulacidae)

Abstract

The first Miocene representative of the wasp genus Pristaulacus Kieffer, 1900, is described from the volcanic paleolake of Sainte-Reine in Cantal, France. Observable characters are identical to those of the extant Pristaulacus barbeyi (Ferrière, 1933), currently known from the southern and eastern Mediterranean regions and Iran and associated with mountainous fir forests where it is a parasitoid of buprestid beetles. Interestingly, the paleohabitat of the Sainte-Reine locality was a mountain paleolake surrounded by forests with firs (Abies Mill., Pinaceae) and with a rather cool climate, matching well with the occurrence of a species of Pristaulacus, phenetically at least, similar to P. barbeyi.