Libanobythus Prentice and Poinar

ENGEL, MICHAEL S. & GRIMALDI, DAVID A., 2007, Cretaceous Scolebythidae and Phylogeny of the Family (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea), American Museum Novitates 3568 (1), pp. 1-16 : 3

Genus Libanobythus Prentice and Poinar

Libanobythus Prentice and Poinar In Prentice et al., 1996: 807 .

Type species: Libanobythus milkii Prentice and Poinar In Prentice et al., 1996 , monobasic and original designation.

Lybanobythus Azevedo, 1999: 2. Lapsus calami .

DIAGNOSIS: Head broad; frontal prominence absent; clypeus transverse, clypeal apex short; face lateral to antennal torulus flat; ocelli forming equilateral triangle, near upper tangent of compound eyes; occipital carina present; pronotal collar present, dorsal surface of pronotum nearly 1.5 times as long as mesoscutum; propleura well developed, anteriorly forming a long neck; notauli absent; prosternum large, exposed, diamondshaped; parapsidal lines absent; forewing with open marginal cell; Rs long, much longer than pterostigma, terminating near anterior wing margin, tubular over entire length; R 1 absent; margin of pterostigma within marginal cell convex; 1m-cu present, tubular; Rs+M tubular; Cu basad 1m-cu tubular, distad 1m-cu nebulous; first submarginal cell short; metafemur not flattened; tibial spur formula 1-1-1; pretarsal claws simple. Refer also to Prentice et al. (1996) for additional characters.

COMMENTS: Prentice et al. (1996) considered Libanobythus to be sister to all other scolebythid genera based on the presence of a pronotal collar. A cladistic analysis of the family ( Carpenter, 1999; Lacau et al., 2000; see below), however, places Libanobythus in a clade with other, principally fossil genera and not as sister to the remaining scolebythid taxa. The pronotal collar of Libanobythus would thus appear to be a secondary reversal and not plesiomorphic. Further details of the cladistic analysis are presented below.