The first flat wasps (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) from Miocene Mexican amber

The First Cretaceous Epyrine Wasp (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae): A New Genus and Species from Early Cenomanian Kachin Amber

“…All but two fossils are attributed to the extant Epyris, Anisepyris, Bakeriella, Chlorepyris, Holepyris, and Laelius; most of them have been described from the upper Eocene Baltic amber [13]. The subfossil Tanzanian copal, Miocene Dominican amber, Miocene Mexican amber, Oligocene Rott Formation, Eocene Bembridge marls, Eocene Rovno amber, Eocene Florissant Formation, and Eocene French amber yielded between one to five species [3,13,16,[46][47][48][49][50]. So far, the only extinct epyrine genus was Gloxinius, with one species from Baltic amber [51], making Hukawngepyris setosus gen. et sp.…”

“…The Bethylidae (Chrysidoidea) are a diverse and cosmopolitan family of aculeate wasps, with around 3000 extant species [1] and more than 100 fossil species (see summary: [2]; and other recent discoveries: [3][4][5][6][7][8]). As far as is known, all species for which the biology has been reported are parasitoids of lepidopteran and coleopteran larvae [9].…”

“…The Epyrinae comprise 19 genera and about 1000 species [14] and are considered the second most species-rich subfamily of Bethylidae, outnumbered only by the Pristocerinae [1]. Epyrine representatives are common in upper Eocene Baltic and Rovno ambers, with 15 species recorded [13], and two species are known in Miocene Dominican and Mexican ambers [3]. The oldest epyrine wasps have been described from the lower Eocene amber of France [15,16].…”