Abstract
A new species of the scelionine genus Macroteleia Westwood (Platygastridae s.l., Scelioninae) is described and figured from a female beautifully preserved in Middle Miocene amber from Peru. Macroteleia yaguarum Perrichot & Engel, sp. n., shows a unique combination of characters otherwise seen independently within its congeners. It is most similar to the modern M. surfacei Brues, but differs from it by the non-foveolate notauli, the contiguous punctures of the vertex, and the continuous propodeum. The new species is the first New World fossil of the genus, suggesting a Cretaceous origin for the group and a relatively old age of the South American, tropical African, and Australian faunas, and a younger age of the modern Holarctic faunas.
Highlights
The platygastroid wasps represent one of the underexplored territories of microhymenopteran diversity
The lineage was 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., Grimaldi et al 2002, Grimaldi and Engel 2005, Perrichot et al 2010, McKellar and Engel 2012, Ortega-Blanco et al 2014, and pers. obs.). They occur in Tertiary ambers, but not with same diversity as has been observed in the Cretaceous ambers
The study is based upon a single specimen preserved in amber from the Pebas Formation (Mollusc Zone MZ7, late Middle Miocene, ~12 Ma; Wesselingh et al 2006) that is exposed on the eastern bank of the Amazon River in the Tamshiyacu locality, 30 km
Summary
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 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, 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. Macroteleia renatae Szabó & Oehlke, was described from a single female preserved in middle Eocene (Lutetian) Baltic amber, while a second species, M. veterna Cockerell, from the Eocene of the Isle of Wight (Cockerell 1921), was recently transferred in the genus Calotelea Westwood Macroteleia renatae Szabó & Oehlke, was described from a single female preserved in middle Eocene (Lutetian) Baltic amber, while a second species, M. veterna Cockerell, from the Eocene of the Isle of Wight (Cockerell 1921), was recently transferred in the genus Calotelea Westwood (Antropov et al 2014: 341, pl. 1, fig. 5)
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